SWGTC Students and Faculty Head to Leadership Conference

Six students and three faculty advisors from SkillsUSA, Student Council, Phi Beta Lambda, and the National Technical Honor Society at Southwest Georgia Technical College (SWGTC) are heading to Atlanta next week for the 19th Annual Fall Leadership Conference.

Students attending the conference from SWGTC are Tammy Barnes (SkillsUSA), Lana Layton (SkillsUSA), Michael Flemming (SkillsUSA), Mary Frances Johnson (Student Council and Phi Beta Lambda), Blair Evans (National Technical Honor Society) and Deb Bennett (Phi Beta Lambda). Advisors attending are Flip and Terry Harper and Debra Rogers.

Mary Frances Johnson, who attended the conference last year, is excited about returning. “Last year was wonderful. I learned so much about what it means to be a leader,” she said. “I am president of both the Student Council and Phi Beta Lambda so it is important to me to learn new leadership skills so that I can be a more effective leader and do the best job I can for my clubs.”

Debra Rogers, who is the advisor for Phi Beta Lambda at SWGTC said, “This will be my first time attending the Leadership Conference and I am looking forward to sharing this experience with the students.”

“This is always an exciting time for the club officers and advisors.  The officers are the leaders of the clubs and it is exciting to sit back and watch them in action,” said Terry Harper, one of the advisors for SkillsUSA.   “We have some great students here at SWGTC and this is an excellent opportunity for them to learn and network with people from all over Georgia. It is always a great experience for them.”

The conference will be held November 21-23, 2008 at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta.  The conference will include a series of informative and interesting sessions of leadership skills. Students who complete at least for sessions will be awarded a Certificate of Participation. There will also be meetings for each of the individual organizations and other events throughout the conference.