Lauren Elizabeth McAvoy, a Washington-Wilkes student at Athens Technical College, has been nominated by an instructor to participate in the 2008 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) program. She is the daughter of Barry and Barbara McAvoy.

Each year the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education sponsors the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership program which aims to identify the top students in Georgia's technical colleges. The state winner of this award will become the student spokesman for technical education for the following year.

Students are nominated for the GOAL program on the local college level by their respective academic instructors. Nominees then participate in a college screening interview where they deliver a three to fiveminute speech that highlights the impact that technical education has had on their life. College finalists are then chosen based on their speech and their responses to a series of questions posed by the screening committee.

Finalists participate in an additional interview where the judging is done by local community and business leaders. This selection committee is responsible for choosing the college GOAL winner who will go on to compete at the state level May 20-23 in Atlanta.