Crisp County Elementary School’s Rylee Hanson selected as winner in Statewide MAW Art Design Competition

April 13, 2018
South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford (right) and Julie Partain, Dean of Enrollment Management at the SGTC Crisp County Center, are shown above with MAW Statewide Art Contest winner Rylee Hanson of Crisp County Elementary School with her 2nd place poster in the K – 5th grade competition. Also shown (l to r) are Rylee’s parents Kimberly and Tony Hanson and her brother.
South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford (right) and Julie Partain, Dean of Enrollment Management at the SGTC Crisp County Center, are shown above with MAW Statewide Art Contest winner Rylee Hanson of Crisp County Elementary School with her 2nd place poster in the K – 5th grade competition. Also shown (l to r) are Rylee’s parents Kimberly and Tony Hanson and her brother.

ATLANTA, Ga – Crisp County Elementary School fourth grader Rylee Hanson was selected as a winner in Georgia 2018 Manufacturing Appreciation Week (MAW) student design art contest and recognized by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal in front of nearly 1,000 individuals at the Georgia International Conference Center in Atlanta recently. South Georgia Technical College officials in Americus submitted the winning art work for the contest.
Hanson placed second in the grades K – 5 competition. She was competing against outstanding art students from across the entire state of Georgia. She is the daughter of Tony and Kimberly Hanson of Cordele.
As a state-wide winner, Hanson was honored at the Governor’s Manufacturing Appreciation Week Award Luncheon at the Georgia International Conference Center in Atlanta. Governor Nathan Deal presented Hanson with an art contest winner certificate and a $300 check for her second place winning entry.
Thousands of students from around the state submitted design entries in the 2018 MAW student design contest featuring Georgia manufacturers and their products. A first, second, third, and honorable mention winner was selected for three categories – Grades K – 5; Grades 6 – 8, and Grades 9 – 12. Only 12 students from across the state were selected as winners and only four from Hanson’s age group.
“We are extremely proud that a student from our service area was recognized as a state wide winner,” said South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford. “I would also like to thank Crisp County Elementary School and the other schools, art teachers, and students who took part in the contest this year.”
South Georgia Technical College submitted approximately 150 entries from elementary, middle, and high school students from Sumter, Crisp, Schley, and Marion counties. The student art contest is designed to help students become more aware of the importance of manufacturing to their lives and communities as part of Manufacturing Appreciation Week (MAW). MAW was developed by the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education and the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
South Georgia Technical College has submitted winning entries from local elementary and middle schools for ten of the past thirteen years. In 2015, Crisp County Elementary had two other winners. Alyssa Bodrey placed second in the grades K – 5 competition, and Tessa Nipper, a fourth grader, was an honorable mention winner. Indira Zelava, a fourth grader from Sarah Cobb Elementary School in Americus received an honorable mention award in 2014.
Raziel Cruz, a second grade student from L.K. Moss Elementary School in Marion County was honored in 2012 for his third place entry and Miranda Paige Gibson, a first grade student from L.K. Moss Elementary School in Marion county, and Makayla McKee, a fifth grade student at Macon County Elementary School were honored in 2011 for their second and third place winning entries. Crystal Anna Dixon, a fourth grader from L.K. Moss Elementary School in Buena Vista, won 3rd place in the placemat competition in 2010.
Kaitlin Brown of Montezuma, a student at Southland Academy, was a local winner in 2009 and then in 2007 and 2008, Sarah Cobb Elementary School had winning entries. Kavian DeAndre Harris finished in second place in 2008 and Tywun Jackson took first place in 2007. Temeka Sada Denmark of Staley Middle School in Americus was a winner in the poster competition in 2006.
The awards luncheon is the highlight of Manufacturing Appreciation Week (MAW). Co-hosted by the Technical College System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development, MAW brings attention to this significant component of Georgia’s economy. Manufacturing provides jobs for approximately 350,000 Georgians. The nearly 9,500 manufacturing facilities in Georgia are devoted to making products as diverse as textiles and automotive parts.
This is the 24th year celebrating Manufacturing Appreciation Week in Georgia. Governor Nathan Deal announced the Manufacturers of the Year at the luncheon. Metcam Inc. of Forsyth County was the Small Manufacturer of the Year. NIBCO from Greensboro, Georgia was the Medium Manufacturer and Pratt & Whitney from Atlanta won the Large Manufacturer of the Year.
Representatives from South Georgia Technical College were at the luncheon with manufacturing representatives from Sumter and Crisp County and had the opportunity to see Rylee presented with her certificate by the Governor. For more information about the contest or Manufacturing Appreciation Week, visit the website at: www.georgiamaw.org.