Dec 14th, 2017
Jackson State student Kelsey Gadberry was selected to represent the college as a candidate for Outstanding Technical Student of the Year (OTSY). Kelsey is a second-year OTA student at JSCC and looks forward to advancing to the regional competition in January.
Kelsey is one of several students from West Tennessee that will compete for three spots to represent the West Tennessee region in Nashville at the statewide level in March. There will be 3 students from each grand division of the state (West, Middle, and East) in the final competition. These 9 contestants will be judged on their presentation and interview skills along with their ability to relate to other students, government officials, business and industry partners, and school staff.
The student selected as the winner of the statewide competition will be responsible for being an ambassador for technical education in the state. They will make a number of visits and presentations to students and industry during their term as the OTSY representative. And the reward for this honor will be a brand-new car.
This program was started in 2008 as the Tennessee Technical Center (TTC) Outstanding Student of the Year program. It was modeled after the 2007 Goal Program from Georgia for their Occupational Award of Leadership.
The program name was changed this year to the Outstanding Technical Student of the Year because of TBR systems changes. The program has been for technical education students in the TCATs since its inception. This year the program was expanded to add students from TBR's 13 Community Colleges.
Dr. Tom Pigg is currently the local coordinator for the OTSY program. He has stated that he is excited to have this opportunity available for the college's technical students and that JSCC's participation in this program will be expanded in the coming years.