Lillie Ann Winn announces retirement as SGTC Adult Education Dean
South Georgia Technical College Adult Education Dean Lillie Ann Winn has spent over 22 years in education at the high school and collegiate level and that time has brought her a lot of joy. She announced recently that she plans to retire from her current position, June 30, 2024.
“We are going to miss Lillie Ann Winn,” said South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford. “She joined us as the Dean of Adult Education in 2017 and she has excelled at that position. She has done an excellent job of balancing the administrative, accounting and teaching portions of that program and has used her creativity to help students returning to earn their high school equivalency. The college and our adult education students have definitely benefited from her tenure.”
Winn has worked diligently to help her students succeed during her time at SGTC. “We have tried to create a welcoming place where students can come and be safe while they continue their education. It is wonderful to see a student catch their stride and take off. You might say we give them wings to soar. We just do what we need to do to help them get to graduation.”
And even though this is a very demanding position, Winn says it was a tough decision to retire. “I am going to miss the people I work with here at South Georgia Technical College and the Adult Education Department. And I am going to miss our students. We are like a family. We are very close. Everyone cares about this program and our students,” said Winn. “We all work together and do what needs to be done to help students succeed.”
In addition to Winn’s over two decades in the education field, she also has over two decades of work experience in the accounting and business field. She is a unique, talented educator that will be hard to replace.
Winn has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from Georgia Southwestern State University and a Master of Post-Secondary Education in Instructional Technology from Troy University.
She tempers her strong accounting and logical business background experience with a unique creative spirit. She is a talented pianist and has played the piano for a number of different churches for the past 45 years. She is currently the pianist for First Methodist Church in Montezuma, but has also played at Baptist Churches in Americus and Montezuma.
“I love accounting, but I also love music, art, and teaching,” said Winn. “I love numbers, but I also like being creative. I like to think outside the box. I try to do things differently to make it interesting for our students,” laughed Winn.
And she has done that by leading Children’s Church, Vacation Bible School, teaching in both the Sumter County and the Macon County School Systems, working as a Career and Technical Education Director, decorating for proms, working as an interior designer, as a bookkeeper, and as the SGTC Dean of Adult Education. She has also served on a number of committees at SGTC and has decorated for the SGTC Foundation Donor Dinner for the past two years.
Winn has modeled what “going the extra mile” and helping students succeed is all about. “South Georgia Technical College and the Adult Education department does a great job of putting students first. And it shows. The students love coming and when they are successful it does our heart good. Education is a tremendous gift for students as well as their families.
“When a student earns their high school equivalency diploma, it can change their entire life and most of the students are very appreciative of the extra time and attention that our instructors spend to help them reach their goals,” added Winn.
When asked how she was able to accomplish so much in her professional career, Winn says, “You have to love what you do and the people you work with. This work is hard. There are a lot of state mandates that have to be met in addition to the needs of the students and the employees. So, you really do have to love what you do.”
Winn is married to Greg Winn and will be celebrating their 43rd anniversary in October. They have three grown sons, Bradley in Louisville, KY; Nathan in Nashville, TN; and Logan in Seattle, WA. She and Greg also have two granddaughters and a grandson.
When asked what she planned to do after retirement, she laughed and said “travel.” With their children spread out across the United States, they plan to visit them more often, but they also plan to travel abroad. She also intends to still help others and practice the piano more.
“I feel like I have almost come full circle,” said Winn. “My first teaching job was at South Georgia Technical College as an adjunct business and accounting instructor at night. I did that for two and a half years and I really loved it. That is why I think I went into career tech later. These are skills that everyone needs and I enjoyed working with individuals that wanted to learn.”