Jasper Byrd

Sal Gonzalez (left), program director and instructor of Diesel Equipment Technology at GNTC, watches as student Jasper Byrd checks a valve lash adjustment on a diesel engine. Byrd earned the gold medal in the Diesel Equipment Technology high school competition at the 2025 SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta. He represented the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy and the state of Georgia in the national contest, June 23-27, in Atlanta.

Seventeen-year-old Jasper ByrdÐÔÊӽ紫ý career decisions mapped his path to the Diesel Equipment Technology program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC).

Byrd, a student at Coahulla Creek High School, takes classes through the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy in Dalton and is also enrolled in GNTCÐÔÊӽ紫ý Dual Enrollment program, which allows high school students to enroll in college courses while still in high school to earn credit for both high school and college courses simultaneously. He attends GNTCÐÔÊӽ紫ý Whitfield Murray Campus in Dalton and expects to earn his diploma in Diesel Equipment Technology in spring 2026.

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