Eleven Blackshear Elementary students placed in the local Manufacturing Appreciation Week (MAW) Student Design Competition sponsored by Okefenokee Technical College.

Students in Mrs. Lisa Gillis’s Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) classes were asked to depict the importance of manufacturing to their lives and communities through a placemat design. Over 50 students participated in the assignment.

Winners of the local placemat competition were Madison Moore and Jacob Peavy – 5th Grade; Jaelyn French and Coy Carrin – 4th Grade; Chandler Watson and Bryce Bowen – 3rd Grade; Grant McDonald and Maci Hawkins – 2nd Grade; Joey Gray, Colton Wright, and Neal Bennett – 1st Grade. Winners received one of the following prizes: an OTC camouflage backpack, an OTC camouflage cap, an OTC book bag, or an OTC beach bag.  

All participating students were given a gift of appreciation. In addition, all entries were submitted to the state student design competition sponsored by the Technical College System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

The top three statewide winners will be honored at the Governor’s Awards Luncheon April 15, 2010, at the Georgia International Conference Center in Atlanta.  

Manufacturing Appreciation Week was developed by the Technical College System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Contest coordinators hope that as part of the contest process area children will research information on manufacturing and learn that a career in manufacturing can be so much more than assembly line work. “We want students to know that manufacturers provide jobs for engineers, scientists, advertisers and many others in our state.”
Manufacturing Appreciation Week for 2010 will be celebrated April 12-15, 2010.

Photo:
Over 50 Blackshear Elementary School students participated in the 2010 Manufacturing Appreciation Week (MAW) art contest sponsored by OTC. Contest winners were Neal Bennett (Front Row – L to R), Colton Wright, Joey Gray, Chandler Watson, Bryce Bowen, Maci Hawkins, Grant McDonald, (Back Row – L to R):  Coy Carrin, Jaelyn French, Jacob Peavy, and Madison Moore. Lisa Gillis, BES GATE teacher, congratulated the winners on their designs.