CTC sends award winning team back to PLANET

Media release: More than 20 students, faculty and staff from Chattahoochee Technical College will board a plane March 16 for Joliet, Illinois to defend their title as the best of the best at the annual PLANET Student Career Days. For two out of the last three years, CTC students have taken home the trophy for the highest score and best performance out of 68 competing schools.

"Our past success can be attributed to hard working and dedicated students who are focused on the task at hand," said Environmental Horticulture Instructor and Division Chair for Technical Programs Shane Evans 　"Many of our students work and have families while attending CTC and participating in PLANET.　 It is a testament to the quality of students that we have on a yearly basis by having　employers from all over the USA recruiting our graduates."

Student Career Days is an annual three-day event put on by Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) designed to help build careers for college horticultural students. Students from more than 60 universities and colleges from across the country will compete in events that are directly related to the skills necessary for a career in the green industry, including tree climbing, paver installation, wood construction, sales presentation, skid steer operation and plant identification. They also participate in a career fair and networking events.

Of the 21 students competing this year for Chattahoochee Technical College, 14 have competed before, according to Evans. Each of the students try out for their top choices in the 28 competitive events with CTC holding run-offs for some of the most popular ones. Team members are set in December.

"Landscape install tends to draw the largest crowd because it is the last event of the day and has no other completion competing against it," Evans explained. "Many of our students try out for the identification events and equipment operation events."

Last year, a record 68 schools and nearly 900 students competed when CTC hosted the annual event, including students from Canada and England. The top placing schools included Chattahoochee Technical College, Brigham Young University – Provo, Brigham Young University – Idaho, North Carolina State University, University of Maryland, Penn State, Colorado State University, Mississippi State University, Columbus State Community College, and Michigan State University. Next year's event is scheduled for Kansas State University.

Even before the event starts later this month CTC students are already winning some of the prestigious awards. A record-breaking 10 students receive scholarships from the PLANET Academic Excellence Foundation that will be awarded during the competition. Eight students won AEF Scholarships in the amount of $1000 each. Two students won named scholarships in the amount of $1000.

Academic Excellence Foundation Scholarship winners include, Lisa Denison of Cartersville, Judy-Lynn Hoppe of Powder Springs, Allen Humble of Acworth, Humzah Khraim of Marietta, Anita Phillips of Acworth, Kevin Porter of Kennesaw, Annie Sanders of Powder Springs and Cassie Templeton of Acworth. Cheryl Gress of Kennesaw won the TruGreen Company Scholarship and Brian Watters Acworth won the Gachina Landscape Management, The Gachina Family Scholarship.

"We are ecstatic to learn that 10 of our students received PLANET AEF scholarships this year," said Evans. "This is a largest number of recipients　that have ever received a PLANET scholarship at CTC. PLANET received a record number of applications this year as well. This will be a tremendous help to our students during the current economic conditions and utilize this money to further their education goals."