TIFTON — Tift County Schools recognized a host of students for stellar work and outstanding accomplishments at the recent board of education meeting.

Student groups and organizations from Tift County High School and both middle schools were congratulated during the recent Tift County Board of Education meeting.

Students were called to the front to receive a certificate commemorating their achievement and a round of applause from the meeting attendees.

The board kicked things off by introducing the valedictorian and salutatorian for TCHS, Neel Manish Patel and Gwyneth Maria Conner, respectively, as well as the STAR student and teacher pair Jozef Abantao and Jacob Thompson.

District-level winners for the 2023 Young Georgia Authors were congratulated, with a student from every grade except 10th being recognized. School officials said student work had been submitted to the regional level as well, where a victory could allow them to compete in the statewide competition.

Students of the Future Business Leaders of America for Eighth Street Middle School, Northeast Middle School and TCHS were all lauded for their chapters’ individual achievements, with each managing to earn merit at regional or higher level competitions.

In particular, Laural Mullen, advisor for the Eighth Street chapter, reported record numbers in membership, region winners and placers, and state winners, as well as Eighth Street’s first Young Leader Award winner and first state president, while TCHS advisors Marla Thompson and Christi Fletcher praised their chapter for earning the Gold Chapter of the Year award and receiving Gold Chapter Champion status at a national level.

Fletcher and Thompson focused on the branch’s three first-place competitors at a regional level, Jayla Canady in spreadsheet application management, Caroline Fletcher in graphic design and Jonathan Liu in accounting I.

The Health Occupations Students of America and Future Farmers of America chapters at Eighth Street and TCHS were praised for the year’s accomplishments.

Maegan Story, Eighth Street’s HOSA advisor, congratulated Melody Cameron, German Meza and Riya Naikare for making it into the top three at their most recent competition, which will allow them to compete at a national level, while Steve Goldman, TCHS HOSA advisor, gave similar sentiments to Bill Nguyen as the sole winner for the chapter at state level.

TCHS’s FFA chapter had more than 65 students compete in various contests, as reported by advisor Ashley Thoron. Six of its top students will represent Georgia in the organization’s national competition in October.

For the middle school division, advisor Eve Rogers honored the two state champions, Katie McClendon and Alex Garcia, for taking first in, respectively, poultry production and horticulture.

Mickey Bentley with SkillsUSA at the high school took the stage twice, first to congratulate the regional teamwork construction winners Benjamin Tran, Christopher Drawdy, Blair Golden and Samuel Vance on not only becoming champions of the 29-county region but ranking in the top 10 of the 261 chapters of the state, then to recognize the entire chapter for attaining the Chapter Excellence Award.

The Career Technical Instruction students of TCHS showed off their recent placement at fourth in Outstanding Chapter of the Year statewide. Grant Park, CTI coordinator for the high school, was proud of his students for building the chapter up to one of the best in Georgia.

Finally, Major Peter Candelario awarded ROTC Cadet Bryson Reade a flight academy scholarship – the first he had ever awarded. Candelario said Reade will be able to use the scholarship to learn how to fly at the Air Force’s expense at Southeastern University in Jacksonville, Fla.

At the conclusion of the many recognitions, Tift County School Superintendent Adam Hathaway congratulated all of the students and thanked them for the effort; he encouraged them to keep working hard in the future.