#1428 | December 23, 2013

SAVANNAH – Savannah Technical College has selected a gingerbread house made by Culinary Arts graduate Pam Brown to be featured on its 2013 holiday card.

Brown graduated from Savannah Tech in 2012 and works part-time at the Westin Savannah Harbor in the kitchen and as a server. Brown created “The Effingham House” for a gingerbread competition in 2012. Her house was selected as a finalist in the adult division and received second place with the viewer’s choice award. She spent more than 80 hours to decorate the gingerbread house with gum paste, fondant, royal icing, candy canes, Kit Kats, popcorn, chocolate disks, poured sugar, homemade toffee, ice cream cones and rosemary sprigs.

Savannah Tech’s baking and pastry program was developed by the College to teach the art of creating tasty baked goods, pastries, and confections, from traditional bread baking to beautiful showpieces. Students learn a variety of international and classical pastries and desserts using basic and advanced techniques, which meet industry quality standards. More than 70 students are currently enrolled in the baking and pastry program.

The Culinary Institute of Savannah has earned distinction as one of the top four culinary programs in the country according to the American Culinary Federation (ACF). Chef Jean-Yves Vendeville has assembled a top-notch team of faculty, who have each earned national ACF certification under his leadership. For more information about Culinary Arts at Savannah Tech visit: www.facebook.com/ChefJeanVendeville.

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Baking & Pastry or Culinary Arts Program Information:
Amber Robinson 912.443.5719 or arobinson@savannahtech.edu
www.facebook.com/ChefJeanVendeville

Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512 or ashaffer@savannahtech.edu

#1427 | December 19, 2013

SAVANNAH – The old trailer from the Southeast Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross had seen better days – its last washing removed all the paint, leaving it looking so bad it couldn’t serve its intended purpose of transporting items to shelter disaster victims. That’s when Savannah Technical College stepped in to assist.

This fall, 12 Auto Collision Repair students, enrolled in Department Head Keith Padgett’s Refinishing course, washed, sanded, re-caulked, waterproofed, and repainted the trailer; and refinished the tail light covers and rims. The result is a shiny, almost new trailer that Red Cross Disaster Services Director John Wright could put into service immediately.

“This trailer was the very first disaster shelter trailer we had for our chapter. When the paint came off with washing, we knew we couldn’t put it back in service,” said Wright. “We also knew we didn’t have the funds to purchase a new trailer.”

The project, done as a community service project for Auto Collision Technology, took Padgett’s class about a month from start to finish. “The American Red Cross touches so many lives in so many ways, when they called to ask for our help, we knew we had to help them,” noted Padgett. “My students learned a lot from this project. Ordinarily we work on cars, so this was different for them.”

Savannah Technical College offers four certificates in repair and refinishing along with a diploma in Automotive Collision Repair.

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When Savannah Technical College announced its selections for the best of the best in 2013, Ashley Smith, a dental hygiene student, was named the College’s 2013 honoree of the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) award.

GOAL, a statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), honors excellence in academics and leadership statewide among the state’s technical college students.

“Technical college education allows students to have hands on training, which in turns helps students to confirm their career choice,” said Smith. “Not only does the technical college provide superior education, it does so at an affordable cost.”

Smith was one of four finalists of the 44 nominated STC students. The other finalists are Dustin Bolgrihn (Welding), Natalia Martinez-Rivera (Criminal Justice) and Jonathan Gerbsch (Fire Science).

Savannah Technical College President Dr. Kathy Love made this announcement Friday evening at the 2013 Opportunity Award Gala Honoring Advanced Manufacturing. The crowd of 300 gathered for the Savannah Technical College annual fundraising event.

Contact Mike Light, TCSG Executive Director of Communications: 404.327.6913
For Immediate Release: Thursday, December 5, 2013

ATLANTA– The State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia announced today that its members have chosen Savannah Technical College as their 2013 college of the year.

Dr. Lynn Cornett, chair of the TCSG board, presented Savannah Technical College President Kathy Love with the Perdue Award for the TCSG Technical College of the Year during the board’s monthly meeting in Atlanta.

“The presentation of the college of the year award to Savannah Technical College is the highest honor that the TCSG State Board can give to one of our 24 colleges,” said Cornett. “Dr. Love and the faculty and staff of Savannah Technical College are to be congratulated for their strong focus on serving their students, changing lives, and building a better workforce for the coastal Georgia region. We thank everyone, including the college’s many supporters, for their commitment to excellence in technical and adult education and strong desire to help every student succeed.”

The board also recognized Augusta Technical College, Columbus Technical College, Gwinnett Technical College and Ogeechee Technical College with resolutions for being finalists for the award.

Each year, the TCSG State Board evaluates the state technical colleges for the Perdue Award using almost two dozen performance categories, including enrollment in technical and adult education programs, student retention and graduation rates, licensure pass rates, economic development measures, national awards, and administrative efficiencies.

“It’s a special honor for me to accept the Perdue Award for Georgia’s technical college of the year. It’s a wonderful recognition that represents a lot of hard work by a lot of very good people at Savannah Technical College,” said Love.

TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson said that the award caps a banner year for Savannah Technical College, which also included the recent opening of a new Aviation Training Center. “I know that President Love and her colleagues at Savannah Technical College take great pride in this award and the many achievements that were made by their college during the past year. I’m also sure that, to a person, they’ll tell you that nothing is more important to them than ensuring the success of their students.”

Savannah Technical College enrolled 7,380 students in credit classes during the past academic year, which was the seventh-largest enrollment in the TCSG. The college produced 1,611 graduates in certificate, diploma and degree programs during the year, which was six percent more than the previous year. In addition, nine in ten Savannah Technical College graduates who took their state licensure exams during the past academic year passed those tests.

The college also made efficient use of its state appropriation during fiscal year 2013 by keeping the cost per full-time equivalent (FTE) almost the same as the previous year despite rising costs and without reducing student access to instructional programs, classrooms and state-of-the-art technology.

The TCSG College of the Year Award is named in honor of former Governor Sonny Perdue, who was a strong supporter of Georgia’s technical colleges and their mission to develop the state’s workforce through world-class technical and adult education programs.

Previous winners were Atlanta Technical College (2012), Ogeechee Technical College (2011) and Wiregrass Georgia Technical College (2010).

Link to jpeg photo of the award presentation(l-r: TCSG State Board Chair Lynn Cornett, Savannah Technical College President Kathy Love, TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson):

About the TCSG: The 24 colleges of the Technical College System of Georgia offer affordable education and excellent training in more than 600 certificate, diploma and two-year associate degree programs. Students of all ages take advantage of outstanding instructors and hands-on learning with state-of-the-art equipment to gain the skills needed for today’s in-demand jobs.

The TCSG colleges delivered 2.3 million credit hours of instruction to more than 151,000 students during the 2013 academic year. The TCSG is online, too, serving 80,000 students through the system’s Georgia Virtual Technical Connection. TCSG students enjoy the benefits of Georgia’s HOPE grant and scholarship and the federal Pell grant, which will pay for a significant portion of a TCSG education.

In addition, the TCSG Quick Start program, an important economic development incentive for Georgia, provided customized workforce training to almost 50,000 employees of new and expanding companies in the state.

The TCSG also works to help adult learners reach their potential. Last year, the TCSG Office of Adult Education delivered a variety of programs to 71,000 adult learners and almost 16,000 of those students earned their GED credential.

For more information about the TCSG and links to a technical college in your area, go to www.tcsg.edu

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