ATLANTA - For the first time in the history of Georgia's technical colleges, a school has back-to-back winners of the coveted Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction. At a ceremony Thursday night in Atlanta, Lanier Technical College’s Dr. David Byers, winner of the 2014 Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction, passed the torch to Lanier Tech’s Christian Tetzlaff, who was named as winner of the 2015 award.
Tetzlaff was one of nine finalists for the award. TCSG Commissioner Gretchen Corbin announced each finalist, spoke of their accomplishments and their importance as ambassadors of technical education, and then announced Tetzlaff as the 2015 winner.
“I chose to teach in technical college because in 1963, at the age of 18, my father risked his life to attain freedom by escaping from Communist controlled East Germany through the Berlin Wall into West Germany. He spoke no English. My father worked his way on a ship to earn passage to the United States, and he learned a few words of English, including work and weld, on the passage. The only thing that he possessed was his technical training as a welder. Using his two words of English, he found work as a welder, and with that one skill he built his future, and mine as well. I choose to teach in technical education because of my father, “ Tetzlaff told the audience during his acceptance speech.
A former Lanier Tech student himself, Tetzlaff is the Lead Instructor of the Motorsports Vehicle Technology Program at Lanier Technical College, and a professional racecar driver.
The State Rick Perkins Award winner serves as an ambassador for technical education in Georgia. Tetzlaff will make many public appearances throughout the year including addresses to the Georgia General Assembly, the Governor, and the TCSG State Board, in addition to civic organizations, schools, and other groups.
The Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Education, a statewide program initiated by the Technical College Systems of Georgia, honors technical education’s most outstanding instructors at the System’s 25 member institutions. The award has been an ongoing statewide event since 1991 and is designed to recognize and honor technical college instructors who make significant contributions to technical education through innovation and leadership in their fields. Formerly known as the Commissioner’s Award of Excellence, the Rick Perkins Award was renamed in memory of Thomas “Rick” Perkins, an instructor at Carroll Technical Institute, who received the Commissioner’s Award of Excellence prior to his death.
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