OAKWOOD — Four Lanier Technical College students have been selected as the college’s semifinalists for the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership.

According to Kari Register, coordinator for the college’s GOAL program, the semifinalists include: Caitlin O’Hara, horticulture from the Forsyth County campus; Tonya Sheets, cosmetology technology, from Dawson County; and Karen Ballew, healthcare science, and James “Caleb” Hammond, welding and joining technology, both from Barrow County.

GOAL, a statewide program of the Technical College System of Georgia, honors excellence in academics and leadership among the state’s technical college students. GOAL winners are selected at each of the state’s 23 technical colleges as well as one Board of Regent college with technical education division. 

All the college GOAL winners will compete in regional judging, which will include students from the other colleges, in March.

In April, all college winners will come to Atlanta, where the nine regional finalists, three finalists from each of the three regions, will be announced and compete at the state-level in April and one student will be named as the statewide GOAL winner.

According to Register, a screening committee of administrators at Lanier Tech selected the four semifinalists from a list of students nominated by their instructors. 

"The next step is for a panel of business, civic and industry leaders from the community to interview and evaluate these four students and select one to be the college’s 2015 GOAL winner,” she said.