Deanna Hulsey, instructor of Cosmetology at Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC), is a regional finalist to become the Technical College System of Georgia’s (TCSG) 2024 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year.
The finalists were announced during a banquet honoring the system’s most outstanding students and instructors at the Grand Hyatt in Atlanta on Tuesday, April 30.
Hulsey will compete against eight other regional finalists in from across Georgia with the Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year being announced Wednesday, May 1, at the GOAL and Rick Perkins State Conference in Atlanta.
The Rick Perkins Award honors the TCSG’s most outstanding instructors. The award has been an ongoing statewide event since 1991 and recognizes technical college instructors who significant contributions to technical education through innovation and leadership in their fields.
Hulsey, a Rome resident, is a Georgia Licensed Master Cosmetologist. She received her diploma in Cosmetology from GNTC in 2011 and has been an instructor at GNTC since 2014. She has taught Dual Enrollment high school students and adult students.
Hulsey said she left high school after becoming pregnant and received her GED® diploma at GNTC. After enduring years of abuse by her children’s father and a harrowing incident when he held them hostage, she fled with her two daughters and never returned.
Feeling grateful to have survived when many domestic violence victims do not, she decided to return to GNTC to study Cosmetology.
“I wanted to do work that would bring me joy and give others joy as well,” she said.
She loved Cosmetology, took her state board exam immediately after graduating and went to work in a salon, she said.
“Technical education opened doors for me that made my dreams obtainable in my situation,” Hulsey said. “Getting an education made me feel worthy again and showed me how to not just survive, as I had for so many years, but how to truly live.”
Hulsey said she looked to her own single-mother for inspiration, explaining that “she taught us that perseverance opens doors that circumstances cannot.” She hopes her story can also inspire others.
“I teach because I want my students to feel worthy and to know that regardless of what their past looks like, they are valued and have a purpose—that it does get better,” she said. “I want them to know someone cares about them and wants them to have the future they have always dreamed of and to know that the goal is not survival, it’s building a life that brings you joy.”
Hulsey has been active in her community, including assisting victims of domestic abuse to obtain protective orders if they did not have an advocate and needed help, she said. She has also supported Penfield Addiction Ministries to sponsor recovering addicts who cannot afford rehabilitation costs.
Hulsey has sponsored children for Christmas through the Rome branch of the Salvation Army. She has also sponsored a single-parent family every Christmas, most recently raising more than $3,000 to assist a family without a vehicle to purchase one.
Hulsey has also donated her hair and makeup services, as well as salon products, for various fundraisers in the community.
A panel of leaders from business, industry and government will choose one instructor to be TCSG’s 2024 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year. The winner will receive a $2,500 cash prize.
The Rick Perkins Award winner serves as an ambassador for technical education in Georgia and will make many public appearances throughout the year, including addressing both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly.
The most recent state winners to represent GNTC were 2019 Rick Perkins Award winner Leyner Argueta, program director of Business Management, and 2013 winner Troy Peco, a former GNTC faculty member who served as assistant dean of Industrial Technologies, program director and instructor of Automotive Technology. Salvador Gonzalez, program director and instructor of Diesel Equipment Technology at GNTC, was named the first runner-up for the 2023 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year.