A Calhoun student is heading to the national stage after helping secure a gold medal at the state SkillsUSA competition.
Jackson Woodard, of Calhoun, was part of the gold medal-winning TeamWorks competition at the 2026 SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference, held Feb. 19–21 in Atlanta. Woodard teamed with Caleb Greeson of Dalton, Jonah Nuckolls of Summerville and Connor Rowell of Rome to earn the top honor.
Woodard and his teammates will now represent Georgia at the national SkillsUSA competition scheduled for June 1–5 in Atlanta.
In all, students from Georgia Northwestern Technical College earned two gold medals, four silver medals and one bronze medal at the state conference.
“I am so proud of the accomplishments of our students. They work hard and are provided excellent guidance from their instructors,” said Missy McLain, SkillsUSA advisor for GNTC. “Their success is truly a testament of the great education they are being provided here at GNTC, and I am honored to be able to celebrate these successes with them.”
Other gold medal honors went to Janie Ruiz, of Rome, who won in Customer Service.
Silver medal winners included Bryan Hernandez of Dalton in Carpentry; Alexander Monroy of Dalton in Masonry; Timothy Mashburn of Ringgold in Welding; and the Welding Fabrication team of Hunter Pickle and Brady Pierce, both of Chatsworth, and Parker Shepherd of Dalton.
Alisha Moss of Cartersville earned a bronze medal in Job Interview.
Twenty GNTC students competed in the annual event, which tests students’ skills in trade, technical, skilled service and health occupations.
SkillsUSA serves more than 440,000 career and technical education students and instructors each year and has supported more than 15 million members since its founding in 1965.