Student from Whitfield wins gold at SkillsUSA Georgia

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, April 4, 2018

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Submitted by Georgia Northwestern Technical College

Noah Ranels, kneeling left, of Gordon County, and George Soto of Whitfield County work on the brick work on the outside of their TeamWorks structure while Logan Thomas of Gordon County uses a hammer to complete part of the inside. The fourth team member, Marvin Pointer of Polk County, is not shown. Georgia Northwestern Technical College's TeamWorks team has entered three years in a row and has captured gold each year.  

The Bobcats suited up for the competition of the year in Atlanta recently. After a record-setting performance at SkillsUSA Georgia last year, Georgia Northwestern Technical College’s team managed to raise the bar a little higher at the professional skills competition in 2018.

GNTC competitors won gold medals in 10 categories this year, besting the 2017 mark of eight first-place finishes for the college. Seventeen GNTC students qualified to compete at the National SkillsUSA competition this summer. The Bobcats had qualified 43 students to compete in 20 categories at the state-level event.

Among those winning gold at state were the members of the TeamWorks team: George Soto of Whitfield County, Marvin Pointer of Polk County, Noah Ranels of Gordon County and Logan Thomas of Gordon County. The construction-based crew competed at SkillsUSA Georgia three consecutive years. And three consecutive times the TeamWorks entry brought home the gold.

“We truly felt we had a great chance at turning a lot of heads in many of the categories on the state level,” said Missy Mclain, GNTC SkillsUSA coordinator. “We have many incredibly well-trained and talented young men and women. This competition really allowed us to showcase these students.”

The national SkillsUSA competition will be held during the National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Ky., June 25-29. More than 16,000 students, instructors and business recruiters and partners are expected to be in attendance.

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Also competing for GNTC in the SkillsUSA Georgia from Whitfield County were Geovani Ramirez, Information Technology Systems, and Cesar Bejarano, Automotive Refinishing.

GNTC’s SkillsUSA chapter earned a Silver Chapter of Distinction award from the state’s Chapter of Excellence Program. SkillsUSA Georgia judges also awarded the Bobcat chapter the title of Quality Chapter.

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