Three SGTC Students Honored for Outstanding Community Service Record

December 6, 2017

Outstanding Student Volunteer certificate recipients Maria Rivera (far left) and Joshua Chappell (far right) stand with NTHS advisors Kari Bodrey (middle left) and Julia Partain (middle right).

Outstanding Student Volunteer certificate recipient Christian Powell stands by a National Technical Honor Society banner in the lobby of the SGTC Crisp County Center campus.

Three South Georgia Technical College students were honored with the Outstanding Student Volunteer certificate at the Crisp County Care Awards Banquet recently at Lake Blackshear Resort in Cordele.

Joshua Chappell and Christian Powell of Cordele, and Maria Rivera of Vienna, all SGTC students and National Technical Honor Society members on SGTC’s Crisp County Center (CCC) campus, were recognized for their extensive community service work within the Crisp County community.

“Joshua, Maria and Christian have been shining examples of servant leaders over the past academic year,” said Kari Bodrey, SGTC’s admissions coordinator who also serves as the students’ advisor in both the NTHS and the Georgia Students Government Association (GSGA).

On campus, the three have been involved in a number of student awareness projects, such as the Multiple Sclerosis Walk, the National Domestic Violence Month program and several environmental awareness initiatives. Additionally, the students have served the community by leading the way in projects such as: Adopt and Angel, a canned food drive to benefit Hand of Hope, Holiday Mail for Heroes which creates and distributes greeting cards to military personnel and their families, book collections to benefit both the Crisp County Pre-K and Primary schools, a school supply collection for the Family Development Task Force and Crisp County Relay for Life.

Individually, each student is also involved in leading the efforts of their organization’s charity drives. As an elected State Officer for GSGA, Chappell is involved with the organization’s Toys for Tots campaign. Similarly, as elected State Officers of the NTHS, Rivera and Powell are involved with Books for Brighter Beginners initiative.

“It is truly awe inspiring when outstanding students come along and you can see the switch from ‘I have to do community service’ to ‘I want to do community service,’” Bodrey said. “The difference between obligation and passion is what sets these types of students apart from the pack as servant leaders.”