CARROLLTON, GA – Karen Freeman, an Early Childhood Care and Education instructor at West Georgia Technical College (WGTC) has been named the College’s 2024 Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction (RPA) winner. Freeman will represent WGTC at the regional competition in March, and if selected as a regional finalist, will compete at the state competition in Atlanta in April. The announcement was made on November 29 at WGTC’s Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership and RPA Banquet, an annual event that celebrates the finalists for both awards. Freeman was nominated by WGTC’s School of Business and Public Services Dean Babs Russell and Associate Dean Jeremy Eason. “Ms. Freeman has been an outstanding Early Childhood Care and Education Instructor at WGTC’s LaGrange Campus for 17 years,” Russell said. “She exhibits student-centeredness, leadership in her field, and she makes significant contributions to technical education as she prepares students to become future educators. Karen is active throughout our communities coordinating student internship opportunities in schools and childcare centers and participates in a variety of local events promoting all WGTC programs while serving as an enthusiastic representative for her career field.” The Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction honors technical education’s most outstanding instructors. Formerly known as the Commissioner’s Award of Excellence, the award was renamed in honor and memory of Thomas “Rick” Perkins, an instructor at West Georgia Technical College. The award has been an ongoing statewide event since 1991 and is designed to recognize technical college instructors who make significant contributions to technical education through innovation and leadership in their fields. In addition to Freeman, finalists for the Rick Perkins Award included Jessica Bishop, Allied Health and Nurse Aide Instructor; SherRee Davis, Registered Nursing Instructor; Jennifer Jiles-Davis, English Instructor; and Jason Kennedy, Social Sciences Program Chair and History Instructor. West Georgia Technical College, with campuses in Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson, and Troup counties and class sites in Heard and Meriwether counties, offers more than 120 associate degree, diploma, and technical certificate programs of study. A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, West Georgia Tech is one of the largest of the state’s 22 technical colleges. For more information, please visit www.westgatech.edu.
