Michael Johns, a Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) Construction Management student, has been selected to receive the EAGLE GED Student of the Year award for Georgia. The award will be presented before hundreds of adult education professionals and the leadership of the Technical College System of Georgia on October 29, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Hotel during the annual GED awards luncheon.

Each year, only one of Georgia’s EAGLE recipients (Exceptional Adult Georgians in Literacy Education) is awarded this honor. The award was established to honor exceptional students in the GED and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs at the state level. Award honorees are chosen based on their academic achievements, reasons for enrollment in adult education programs, their promotion of adult education programs, and letters of recommendation from their instructors.

Johns, a 2009 EAGLE, attended the EAGLE Leadership Institute representing GNTC last February. In addition to this honor, Johns also received the Helen and Vernon Crawford Scholarship and an appointment to the Adult Education Advisory Committee for GNTC. Johns served as a guest speaker at GED graduation ceremonies in Calhoun and Rome this past summer.

Johns was nominated for this award by Coleen Brooks, Adult Education instructor at GNTC. “In my 18 years of working with adult education students, I have only come across a select few who stand out among the rest and Michael Johns is one of those,” said Brooks. In the nomination letter for Johns, Brooks wrote, “Michael is the consummate adult education graduate. He is a perfect example of how getting a GED can change a life for the better. He is a strong advocate of education and is an asset to the state as the EAGLE GED Student of the Year.”

Susan Hackney, GNTC’s vice president of Adult Education, added, “Mike has been an inspiration to all of us who have had the pleasure of getting to know him as he returned to school and picked up the pieces of his work life when his plant closed down. His enthusiasm rubs off on students and faculty alike!”

Johns is the second Georgia Northwestern Technical College student to receive this honor. Gail Walker, who currently works in the Office of Adult Education at GNTC, was selected for the award in 2002.