LaGrange High students win statewide presentation contest

Published 10:45 pm Thursday, May 3, 2018

It may have been a rainy Thursday afternoon, but that didn’t stop family and friends of four high school students from coming out to celebrate four LaGrange High School students who were named winners of the Georgia High School/High Tech Program presentation contest. 

Kitty Crawford, Troup County School System Director of Exceptional Education Services, said, “It is an honor to recognize their hard work and to celebrate the students with their family and friends.”

While the students were not aware of why they were invited to the media center, they soon found out they were awarded Dell Laptops as a prize for their winning presentations. The devices were loaded with software and a year of technical support help. HSHT officials said this is to help the upcoming graduates in their post-secondary learnings. 

Winners of the presentation contest were:

  • Hope Prescott 
  • Alaysha Bledsoe 
  • DeShawn Hill 
  • Brandon Lovin 

Hope Prescott’s submission highlighted her classroom and life skills, her posts-secondary career goals, and why she enjoys using computers. 

 “After graduating, I plan to attend West Georgia Technical College and major in early childhood care,” Prescott said. “I want to earn a certificate in early childhood care. By getting this laptop for college, I will have help completing assignments. I will also be able to learn information I need to further my career aspirations.”

She added, “I enjoy using a laptop to communicate with others. I like to email my teachers about assignments to make sure I am doing the correct thing. I also like to talk with my friends in group assignments through Google applications.”

Gena Kay Shealy, Education Specialist with United Healthcare and Georgia HSHT program facilitator, shared with the group. 

“Hundreds of senior students competed in this competition, and only 175 received this honor,” Shealy said.

“This is an excellent tool for them when they go off to college or technical school. It can help them with their learning because they can use programs that are already on the computer to help in their studies. It can also help them find a career and get a job because they can search for available positions and fill out applications online.”

Brandon Lovin, who was just as excited as the other recipients, said it was an honor to receive the gift for his hard work. 

“It is not every day you are given a free computer and it is harder to get a computer loaded with everything you need, including technical support,” Lovin said. “I feel really lucky to be receiving this because I know hundreds of students competed for these laptops.”

HSHT is an in-school transition program for students with disabilities. They work with high school students from 10th-12th grade who seek to continue their education or find employment. Their top three priorities are:

  • To promote high school completion/graduation
  • To prepare students for life after high school
  • To develop a high degree of self-reliance, self-discipline and independence