Alice Towe, winner of the 2015 GOAL Award at GNTC, stands in front of the gardens at the base of the Clock Tower in Rome. Ms. Towe, and a group of volunteers that she assembled, renovated the gardens and built the railroad tie stairwell.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College student Alice Towe, winner of the 2015 GOAL Award at GNTC, was selected to present a service project session proposal at the Technical College System of Georgia system office on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Ms. Towe’s proposal “Green Thumbs Re-gain Grounds at Historic Heart of Rome” will be presented to a committee for possible inclusion in the 2015 World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates that will take place at Atlanta in November.
Her presentation will discuss the renovation and restoration of the gardens at the historic Clock Tower in Rome.
“I wanted to give to the community; for the enhancement of the Clock Tower and for people who come into Rome to see our historic landmarks,” said Ms. Towe.
The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates will feature more than 2,000 global leaders from all around the world and over 25,000 students to engage in discussions and activities that promote global peace. More than 20 living recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize are expected to attend the international event.
The summit will last for 3 to 4 days and consist of mini-summits, debates, meetings, workshops, and other activities related to global civilization.
Ms. Towe, a horticulture student at GNTC, will present her proposal to the TCSG Nobel Committee, which consists of representatives from the TCSG system office as well as the vice president of Academic Affairs at Southern Crescent Technical College and the vice president for Student Affairs at Southeastern Technical College. The committee will determine if her proposal and GNTC is represented at the summit.
The project was initiated under the guidance of Mary Hardin Thornton, director of Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful.
“I have a great relationship with Shannen Ferry, the director of horticulture at GNTC, and it sort of clicked in my mind that this would be a great partnership,” said Ms. Thornton. “It would give her students some real hands-on work experience in a space where they could be really creative.”
Ms. Towe not only donated many hours of volunteer work on the site, she also assembled a group of volunteers that included friends, family, and an entire GNTC Landscape Management class.
“Alice just has this passion for horticulture and she’s infectious in communicating that passion,” said Ms. Ferry. “She gets people to get excited in what she’s excited about and then they volunteer to help her.”
Ms. Towe will compete for the statewide GOAL Award on Wednesday, the day after her service project session proposal at the TCSG system office.
The historic Clock Tower is the official symbol of Rome