GNTC / Prison Partnership Creates Opportunity for Men Re-entering Workforce

Twenty-six men graduated Friday from a program that represents a partnership between Georgia Northwestern Technical College and Floyd County Prison. The initiative provides participants with a pathway to employment through education, offering Class B commercial truck driver certification, welding certifications, and GED preparation.

Demetria High, the prison's chief counselor, praised the graduates for their dedication, noting that this is the program’s largest graduating class to date.
"This is the plan of God," she told the men. "It might not have been the stop you wanted to make, but it's all in God's plan. I'm very proud of all of you."

Derrick McDaniel, director of adult instruction at GNTC, encouraged the graduates to use the lessons they've learned and the perspective they've gained to guide younger generations away from the same mistakes. He shared how his Uncle John—who had also faced legal trouble—helped him find direction as a youth, and he urged the men to pay that guidance forward.