TIFTON — The Tift County Schools board of education congratulated many of the bright young minds in their CTAE program at their most recent meeting.

Both the Career and Technical Instruction and Young Farmers organizations of Tift County High School received high praise from board members May 9 for their recent stellar achievements.

Dr. Donald Gilman, director of the Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education program for Tift County Schools, announced that the high school’s CTI chapter had been declared Outstanding CTI Chapter of the Year during their recent participation in the state CTI Leadership Competition and Conference in April.

He was proud to report that the student team had also received high marks in several competitions at the event, ranking in the top three across eight categories.

Of these placements, Dakota Mabrey, Damian Cruz, Gabriel Daniels, and D’Travious Wilson secured first place for the chapter in the Agricultural Science, Drafting and Design, Technology Skills, and Woodworking competitions, respectively.

Gilman stated that the Tift County Young Farmers had been named Outstanding Chapter for the state and had several of their members receive awards at their annual banquet in April.

Robyn Thompson received the Chapter President’s Award, Brittany Saylor was awarded the title of Young Ag Professional for the state, and the chapter altogether won the Chapter Display Board Contest.

The advisors for both organizations also received special distinctions at their respective competitions, with Duran Paulk being awarded the Georgia Association for Career and Technical Education Carl D. Perkins Community Service Award and Dr. Carl Nichols being named the Mentor Teacher of the Year by the National Association of Agricultural Educators.