Class Acts

Published 8:15 am Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Students from the local area earn recognition, awards, degrees

The following students have earned honors and recognition from educational institutions. Notifications are published as provided to the Dalton Daily Citizen as by the issuing schools.

Henry Burgess of Rocky Face is on Northwest’s Spring 2025 Vice President’s List. This distinction goes to students earning between a 3.5 to 3.74 GPA. Northwest Mississippi Community College is a public, two-year institution primarily serving 11 counties in Northwest Mississippi.

Nicole Brown of Dalton, Kelly Green of Resaca, Alexis Ramirez of Dalton, Denetra Sowder of Dalton, Leland Warnack of Rocky Face and Jade Bearden of Dalton were among more than 2,000 students named to the Valdosta State University’s Spring 2025 Dean’s List. To qualify for the Dean’s List at VSU, students must achieve a semester grade point average of 3.50 or higher on nine or more semester hours with an institutional grade point average of 3.00 or higher. Developmental studies, transient, and graduate students are not eligible for Dean’s List status.

Katie Tate of Dalton, a sophomore in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been named to the Dean’s List at Mercer University for the spring 2025 semester. Inclusion on these lists requires students to meet rigorous GPA standards specific to the college or school within the University.

Seven local students were among 14,289 students enrolled during spring semester 2025 at The University of Alabama were named to the Dean’s List with an academic record of 3.5 (or above) or the President’s List with an academic record of 4.0 (all A’s).

Ava Poteet of Dalton was named to the Dean’s List; Ava Knowles of Dalton was named to the President’s List; Brett Cole of Dalton was named to the Dean’s List; Max Ross of Dalton was named to the President’s List; Emma Ridley of Rocky Face was named to the President’s List; Hanna McMahan of Rocky Face was named to the Dean’s List; James Anderson of Rocky Face was named to the Dean’s List.

Local students attending Georgia College & State University were among nearly 1,500 students recognized at the university’s spring 2025 commencement ceremony, including: Maryellen Hagberg, of Resaca, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree; Julia Ball, of Chatsworth, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree; Sarah West, of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree; Christian Brady, of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree; and Chandler Kinser, of Chatsworth, who earned a Master of Science in Criminal Justice degree.

More than 4,000 students graduated from Georgia State University at the conclusion of the Spring 2025 semester. Graduating students were honored during the university’s 110th commencement exercises in May. Graduating students from the local area include Erick Dominguez of Dalton, who earned a Master of Science degree from the university’s Family Nurse Practitioner program; Karen Garcia of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, with a minor in Sociology; Sally Garcia of Dalton, who earned an Associate of Science In Dental Hygiene degree; Alexis Leon of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science; Veronica Martinez of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing, with a minor in Computer Information Systems; Alejandro Mejia of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance; Kylee Nguyen of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science; Jay Patel of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, with a minor in Computer Information Systems; Sandra Ramirez of Dalton, who earned an Associate of Science in Dental Hygiene degree; Caleb Randles of Crandall, who earned a Bachelor of Music degree, with studies in the Orchestral Instrument Or Guitar concentration; Adam Shaheen of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film And Media, with a minor in Marketing; Elizabeth Shirah of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree in Environmental Science, with the university’s Global Scholar Distinction, and an undergraduate certificate in sustainability

Jorge Contreras of Dalton, Charlotte Edwards of Rocky Face, Sarah Forberger of Rocky Face, Karen Garcia of Dalton, Ruben Hernandez of Dalton, Kylee Nguyen of Dalton, Jay Patel of Dalton, Nataly Rivas of Dalton, Cristall Rodriguez of Cohutta, Uygar Safyurek of Dalton, and Sergio Valdez of Dalton have been named to the Georgia State University Spring 2025 Dean’s List. To be eligible for the Dean’s List, degree-seeking students must have earned a GPA of at least 3.5 for a minimum of nine semester hours of academic credit taken at Georgia State during the fall or spring term with no incompletes for the semester. Eligible students must have a minimum GPA of 2.0 for all classes taken at Georgia State.

Eddie Guerrero of Dalton, Cyra Kaikobad of Dalton, Hannah Kregel of Dalton, Dev Patel of Dalton, Shubham Patel of Dalton, Rebecca Selfors of Dalton and Angie Zapata of Dalton have been named to the Georgia State University Spring 2025 President’s List. To be eligible for the President’s List at Georgia State University, degree-seeking students must have earned a GPA of at least 4.0 for a minimum of nine semester hours of academic credit taken at Georgia State during the fall or spring term with no incompletes for the semester. Eligible students must have a minimum GPA of 2.0 for all classes taken at Georgia State.

More than 6,000 degrees were awarded during the University of Alabama’s spring 2025 commencement ceremonies at Coleman Coliseum. Local students included Ava Knowles of Dalton, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Information Sciences, and Matthew Queener of Cohutta, who earned a Master of Science degree.

The following local area students have earned placement on the spring 2025 President’s List at Georgia Northwestern Technical College. To be eligible for the President’s List, the student must maintain a GPA of 3.8 or higher during the semester with a course load of at least 12 credit hours.

Whitfield County 

George Abou Rached, Denise Alvarez, Bianca Arreguin, Axxel Banda, Leslie Barajas, Esmeralda Benitez, Alfonso Blanco, Pedro Bran, Taylor Bridge, Martin Calderon, Cynthia Camacho, Maria Camargo Carrillo, Kadie Cardin, Sabrina Carrillo, Omar Cerda-Marquez, Ronald Cespedes Bello, Mwitwa Chibuye, Jacob Cloer, Hannah Cordell, Michael Cruz, Eva Cruz Figueroa, Emmanuel Deharo, Edwin Diaz, Kailor Dockens, Jessica Durham, Maureen Elder, Manuel Enriquez, Isaiah Espinoza, Jacob Flood, Ary Gonzalez, Maximo Guerrero, Leslie Hernandez, Kayla Hibbs, Jaycie Hill, Jennifer Hinds, Aaden Holloway, Jada Huerta, Gregory Huff, Kaylynn Hurst, Jocelin Jasso, Adan Lara Jimenez, Jack Larkins, Neida Leon, Christian Lopez, Juana Lopez, Miguel Lopez, Elder MacIas, Samuel Marquez, Daniel Martinez, Eveli Martinez, John McDonald, Sarah Meza, Natalie Minjarez, Irvin Morales, Atzi Moreno, Rylee Nelms, Melanie Ojeda, Ruben Pacheco, Giovanni Pacheco Loredo, Mauricio Ponce Marquez, Harli Ponders, Jose Quijano Torres, Ariana Ramos, Betzaira Ramos, Janet Rangel, Damaris Reese, Keelyn Roberts, Leonel Rodriguez, Uriel Rubio, Daisy Sanchez, Alexis Sanders, Amber Stuart, Alex Teran, Kristofor Teran, Eduardo Torres, Alina Townsend, Jannet Vazquez, Emalee Weaver, Sean White, Erin Wiley, James Williams, Victoria Williams and Rubi Zapien.

Murray County

Dawn Akins, Morgan Bostic, Isaac Casey, Aerial Caylor, Thomas Crone, Olivia Diaz, Kevin Fleming, Ashley Fraire, Luigi Garcia, Victor Garcia, Murphy Helms, Kyrsten Hixson, Grace Holsomback, Alex Keener, Jimmy Keener, Taylor Moore, Yanet Quintero, Lizbeth Rangel, Jordan Ray, Ethan Robinson, Avery Ross, Lucerito Saldana, Katherine Sane, John Sexton, Joshua Sexton, Haley Singleton, Wesley Stewart, Porsha Sutton, Francisco Triana, Rian Turner, David Uribe, Ashley Weaver and Mindy Whitener.

The following local area students have earned placement on the spring 2025 Dean’s List at Georgia Northwestern Technical College. To be eligible for the Dean’s List, the student must maintain a GPA of 3.5 to 3.79 during the semester with a course load of at least 12 credit hours.

Whitfield County

Maria Alvarado, Jocelyn Baez, Jessica Banks, Damian Bell, Eunice Cervantes Abonse, Mercedes Cole, Gladys Debora, Jose Diaz, Brandon Dickie, Michael Doran, Janessa Estrada, Morgan Flowers, Kendall Foster, Paola Fraire Morales, Cesar Garcia, Leeroy Gembe, Tani Glass Green, Benjamin Gonzalez, Karla Guerrero Hernandez, Janira Hernandez, Allison Hicks, Blanca Ibarra, Julius Jones, Devin Leake, Alexander Lopez-Ortiz, Brisa Mandujano, Jamiry Martinez, Brady McCullough, Marisa Mendez, Jonathan Mulkey, George Ortiz, Bridgette Marie Pedraza, Luis Perez, Sebastian Richmond, Elizabeth Rios, Ashley Rodriguez, Daniella Rodriguez, Victoria Rodriguez, Yesenia Ruedas, Leonardo Sanchez, Melani Santos Calles, Autumn Thomas, Gloria Torres, Keeya Turner, Josue Valle, Oscar Vasquez Ulloa and Kathy Zepeda.

Murray County

Yoni Bautista, Jamie Beasley, Kira Berkley, Camron Cloer, Johnathon Cole, Tristan Deal, Chandler Hanaway, Brenden Harrison, Hunter Henderson, Johnathan Ingle, Brayan Medina, Gisselle Mendoza, Carson Miller, Brady Pierce, Betsy Rosales, Sarah Sane, America Segura, Mary Sharay, Alexus Skyles and William Smoot.