GHC students, faculty and staff participated in the 31st annual Alabama Shakespeare Festival trip to Montgomery, Ala., on April 30 – May 1. There were 52 participants overall. The plays they saw were “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Driving Miss Daisy.”

Multiple students, faculty and staff members participated in the 31st annual Alabama Shakespeare Festival trip to Montgomery, Ala., on April 30 – May 1. The participants gather on the steps of the theater before Sunday afternoon’s play. Contributed photo

Bryce Pitts, Highlands student at the Marietta campus, won the 6th Annual GHC Public Speaking Competition held in Cartersville on Friday, April 15. The title of her speech was “Stop Sexual Violence on Campus.” She beat out 70 other student contestants in order to win.

Second place went to Elizabeth Edwardss and third place went to Kiki Thomason, both from the Douglasville campus. Edwards’ speech was called “The Power of One” and Thomason’s speech was titled “Becoming a Tree After Death.”

GHC student speech competition finalists (from left) were Bryce Pitts (first place), Elizabeth Edwards (second place) and Kiki Thomason (third place). Photo by Sarah Cousar

The other finalists were as follows:

4th – Ashley Hudson (Cartersville) – “Implementing Cursive in Common Core”
5th – Josh Jones (Douglasville) – “Graphic Novels in the Classroom”
6th – Jared Acreman (Douglasville) – “The Dangers of Tattoos”
7th – Justin Jones (Douglasville) – “Make a Big Splash in This Small Pond”

The GHC speech competition finalists (from left) were Kiki Thomason (third place), Bryce Pitts (first place), Jared Acreman (sixth place), Ashley Hudson (fourth place), Elizabeth Edwards (second place), Justin Jones (seventh place) and Josh Jones (fifth place). Photo by Sarah Cousar

GHC students will soon be able to major in new business degrees, starting in fall of 2017. The degrees are Bachelor of Business Administration with a Major in Healthcare Management and Bachelor of Business Administration with a Major in Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

Although the degrees are not available yet, students interested should start on their core classes.

The BBA in Healthcare Management prepares students for careers in the field of healthcare, including Health Information Management, Nursing Management, Rehabilitation Administration and Hospital Administration. According to Alan Nichols, dean of social sciences, business and education, likely jobs for this degree would be in hospitals, clinics or private physicians’ practices. This program builds on the Associate of Science in Business already in place at Highlands.

The BBA in Logistics and Supply Chain Management can prepare students to have careers in Customer Relationship Management, Materials and Warehousing Management and Vendor and Purchasing Logistics Management.

Nichols said, “Given the large industrial base in Bartow County and surrounding areas, we believe that our graduates will fill a need that companies have.” This program builds on the Associate of Science in Business.

The upper division courses of these degrees will be taught primarily in the traditional classroom setting, although some classes may be offered in an online or hybrid format. The junior level courses for these programs will be offered primarily at the Cartersville and Floyd campuses. The senior level classes will be primarily at the Floyd campus for Healthcare Management and the Cartersville campus for Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

Applications for the program will be accepted starting in January of 2017. There are minimum requirements such as an institutional GPA of 2.5. Once in the program, students will have to complete an internship for either program that they are in.

Nichols said, “I think these new degrees will provide good options for students pursuing a business degree who are interested in being part of an industrial or health workforce. Students can now complete this education at GHC.”

For more information, students can speak to any business faculty about these programs.

Some of the business faculty include Bruce Jones at Floyd, Jed Gillespie at Cartersville and Howell Sheffield at Marietta.

For a helpful FAQ sheet on these programs, please email Alan Nichols at anichols@highlands.edu.

Will Gibbons fights off the Gordon State College defense to get to the basket and score a point. Photo by Daniel Smith

The GHC Chargers finished their regular season with a win, defeating Gordon State College 89-65. Doniel Dean and Tylik Evans both ended the game with 16 points each.

Phil Gaffney was named GCAA’s Division I coach of the year, while Doniel Dean was named defensive player of the year and Tylik Evans was named freshman of the year.

The GHC Chargers were undefeated in GCAA conference play, which hasn’t happened since the 01-02 season.

The Chargers will play in the GCAA quarterfinals at home on Tuesday, March 1. Tip off is 7:30 p.m.  

The GHC Lady Chargers show off their trophy at the GCAA Division I Championship, where they won 65-63. Contributed photo

The Lady Chargers are now GCAA Division I champions, defeating South Georgia Tech 65-63, on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m.

At halftime the score was 35-34 with GHC leading the way. With 7 minutes to go in the game, GHC was up by 9 points. In the last few seconds, the score was 65-63, and South Georgia Tech was held off by the Lady Chargers, finalizing the score of 65-63.

Kayla Carter was the top scorer, with 19 points and 6 rebounds. De’Ashia Jones also had double digits, scoring 10 points and 5 rebounds.

The Lady Chargers will travel to Spartenburg Methodist College to play in the NJCAA District J National Tournament. Date and time is TBA.

The Lady Chargers have advanced to the GCAA championship, defeating Darton State, 75-59, on Friday, Feb. 26. The team got off to a fast start, leading the Lady Cavaliers 28-13 at the end of the first quarter. They play in the championship game Saturday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m. Who they play will be decided on Friday, Feb. 26, when Atlanta Metro and South Georgia Tech play at 7:30 p.m.

Update: Georgia Highlands College Lady Chargers will play South Georgia Tech in the championship game on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m.

Here is the link to stream the game: http://www.jockjivesports.net/the-gcaa-sports-network/

Lady Chargers player Sydney Garnigan (right) blocks an East Georgia State Lady Bobcat so teammate Kayla Carter can dribble around to make a shot. Photo by Taylor Barton

The Lady Chargers earned their way through the first round of the GCAA Conference Playoffs and advanced to the Final Four, after defeating East Georgia State, 78-52, at home on Feb. 23.

The score was close through most of the game, but at the end of the third quarter, the Chargers were up with a score of 56-31. Kayla Carter, who has been named to the GCAA 1^st Team All-Conference, was the top scorer with 18 points and 5 rebounds.

The Lady Chargers take on the Darton State Lady Cavaliers on Friday, Feb. 26, at South Georgia Tech in Americus. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. If the Lady Chargers advance on Friday, they will play in the GCAA Conference championship game on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m. at South Georgia Tech.

Here is the link to stream the playoff games live: http://thegcaa.com/tournament/2015-2016/1516gcaawebstreamlinks

Deana Blankinship battles her opponent right before she gets a free throw shot.

Auriana Broughton high fives with others as the Lady Chargers run away with the game at the end of the third quarter. Photo by Taylor Barton

Auriana Broughton throws the ball into play, with a watchful eye from the ref. Photo by Taylor Barton

Taylor Harris (left) and Maris Crider dribble the ball into play. Photo by Taylor Barton

The Chargers earn their 27th straight win against the South Georgia State Hawks, winning 90-78, on Feb. 20. The top scorer was Doniel Dean with 26 points, closely followed by Tylik Evans with 24 points. The Chargers are now 27-1 for the season, as well as 15-0 in conference play. The next opponent the Chargers will face is Handle It Prep on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m.

The Lady Chargers gain another win on the road, defeating the Chattahoochee Tech Golden Eagles, 76-52, on Feb. 17. They began with a strong lead, and at the half the score was 36-17. Five of the Lady Chargers scored in the double digits, with Sydney Ganigan leading the pack with 18 points and 4 rebounds. The next game for the Lady Chargers is the first round of play-offs, at home at the Corral, on Tuesday, Feb. 23. They will be playing against the East Georgia College Lady Bobcats. Tip off is at 6:00 p.m.

The Lady Chargers earned their 20^th win of the season, defeating Central Georgia Tech, 42-25, on Saturday, Feb. 13 at home. Sophomore Deana Blankinship was the top scorer, leading the way with 18 points. The Lady Chargers go to 20-9 for the season and 13-2 in GCAA Conference play. They play Wednesday, Feb. 17, at Chattahoochee Tech. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Chargers will host the first round of the play-offs on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.

Justin Bridges, Sophmore, flies around his opponents to attempt at shot at the Feb. 3 game against Albany Tech. Photo by Daniel Smith

The men’s basketball team won their 25^th straight game, defeating Central Georgia Tech, 68-55 on Saturday, Feb. 13, at home. Kyvon Davenport was the lead scorer with 14 points and 10 rebounds. With the win, The Chargers go to 25-1, and 13-0 in GCAA Conference play. Their next game is at Chattahoochee Tech on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. Their last home game of the regular season will be on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m.

The Chargers keep their winning streak alive, defeating East Georgia College on the road, 82-76. Sophomore Doniel Dean was the lead scorer, with 26 points. Freshman Kyvon Davenport was close behind, with 19 points. The Chargers are now 23-1, nationally ranking them #2 in the NJCAA conference. They are 11-0 in the GCAA, still #1 in conference play. Their next game is at Gordon State this Wednesday, Feb. 10, tipping off at 7:30 p.m. Their next home game is Saturday, Feb. 13, at 4 p.m.

The Lady Chargers won a big conference game on the road, defeating the East Georgia College Lady Bobcats, 52-45. The game was tied at 24 points at halftime, but the Lady Chargers pulled through in the end, winning against a conference rival. De’Ashia Jones was top scorer with 15 points, followed by Auriana Broughton and Kayla Carter, both with 14 points each. The team will be on the road this Wednesday, Feb. 10, at Andrew College. Tip off time is 5:30 p.m. Their last home game of the regular season is Saturday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m.