Acworth Mom Wins Collegiate Award

An Acworth single mother and accounting student at has won the school's Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership.

Shontell Hughes beat out three other finalists, two of whom are fellow Acworth residents, to reach her GOAL.

Her journey to Chattahoochee Tech and GOAL began in 2008 when she became a "displaced worker."

“I didn’t know what that word meant to me,” Hughes said at a luncheon honoring her and other award winners at Chattahoochee Tech. “I knew where I was at. I wasn’t lost. I just didn’t have a job.”

To find new employment, Hughes hit career fairs and employment agencies, but she lacked a strong educational background on her resume. She then entered Chattahoochee Tech to improve the lives of herself and her family.

“I learned that as a displaced worker, I could find where I wanted to be,” Hughes said. “Going to college at Chattahoochee Technical College has given me that opportunity.”

At Chattahoochee Tech, Hughes was inspired by the work of an accountant and decided to make that her new career.

“She is one of the few people who gets excited about accounting,” said Rebecca Long, a Chattahoochee Tech spokeswoman.

The runners-up for the award for academic excellence and leadership were Acworth residents Mary Borgese, a nursing student, and Shannon Hames, a technical communication student, as well as Shawn Gabel, a nursing student from Woodstock.

GOAL is a statewide program covering all 26 schools in the Technical College System of Georgia. Winners at each school travel to Atlanta in May to compete against one another in the GOAL regional finals. A panel of business, government and industry leaders will award a medallion to the overall winner.