Miss Florida UNM Christy Walton speaks at SGTC STEM Camp
Christy Walton, representing Miss Florida UNM, who also is a business woman in dentistry working as a business strategist for a dentist practice, was one of the guest speakers at the South Georgia Technical College 2025 JET TECH STEM Camp for high school students.
Sixty rising tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students as well as recent high school graduates from 10 different counties attended the South Georgia Tech Summer Bridge STEM camp to learn more about the educational and career opportunities available in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. SGTC and Chattahoochee Flint RESA partnered to host the event with grant funding.
Shown above are some of the SGTC Stem Campers listening to Christy Walton talk about STEM careers.
The JET TECH STEM Camp kicked off on Sunday, June 8th and will end on Friday, June 13th. The camp allowed the students to take part in the “Complete College Experience” by living and learning on campus for six days. They were also exposed to over 200 programs of study on the SGTC campus including aviation maintenance, avionics, aircraft structural, medical and nursing programs, culinary arts, electrical construction, auto collision and repair, high performance engines, diesel technology, electrical lineworker, criminal justice, drafting, precision machining and manufacturing, biology, mathematics, air conditioning technology, sports and fitness, cosmetology, barbering, cybersecurity, horticulture, electronics and more.
Christy Walton shared her educational experiences and delved into how she plans to run her own dental practice one day after she completes dental school. She talked with students about her experience in STEM and how it has led to a great impact in her life. She also highlighted how STEM can be used for careers in healthcare such as dentistry and nursing. She hopes that by sharing her story, mentorships may be fostered and STEM businesses can be grown leading to more careers in the healthcare field.
In addition to sharing her personal experiences with the students, Walton also talked about how students have the world at their fingertips with IPhones, laptops and the internet. She encouraged them to research job opportunities in the fields they find interesting.
She added that business has the power to change people’s lives. Then she conducted a Shark Tank activity with students encouraging them to develop their own business idea and pitch it to a panel of “Sharks” to give their feedback to the students. The winners were given a Shark Tank plaque and a free mentorship/coaching session with Walton.