AMERICUS — Jamie Roberts of Oglethorpe, a marketing management student at South Georgia Technical College (SGTC), has been selected as the first recipient of the Leonard and Marie Waitsman Marketing Scholarship, which was established and endowed recently by the Waitsman family in honor of Marie Waitsman and in memory of the late Leonard Waitsman.

Roberts has already earned a diploma in marketing management and is currently seeking her associate degree in that same field. Her instructor is Karen Bloodworth.

Roberts was nominated by Bloodworth as the Marketing Student of the Quarter for the Crisp County Center for Winter Quarter 2009. She also served as the first marketing intern in the SGTC Resource Development and Marketing Department on the Americus campus during Summer Quarter 2008.

“I would like to thank the Waitsman family for this wonderful scholarship,” said Roberts, who had exhausted her HOPE Grant and Scholarship funds one quarter shy of graduation with her associate degree. “I was so close to finishing my degree when I ran out of HOPE hours. I did not want to give up, but financially I didn’t think I could afford to pay for my last quarter of school on my own, so this scholarship was a God send.”

In addition to attending college full-time, Roberts also works as an assistant manager at Zaxby’s in Cordele. “My father passed away from a heart attack about 15 years ago and that left my mother to raise me and my sister on her own. I enrolled at South Georgia Tech in 2008, and since that time, I have maintained A’s in all of my classes, which was not always an easy thing to do, but with my teachers’ and mother’s support I have succeeded.”

Roberts hopes to continue her education at Georgia Southwestern State University after she completes her associate degree at SGTC.

“My experience at South Georgia Tech has been wonderful,” said Roberts. “Through the internship in the marketing department, I was able to see first-hand how important marketing is in a business environment. I believe that South Georgia Tech is about more than just classrooms and lectures; it is about experiences and new beginnings. I am so grateful to South Georgia Tech and to the Waitsman family for this wonderful opportunity.”

The Leonard and Marie Waitsman Scholarship was endowed by the children of Marie Waitsman and the late Leonard Waitsman: Rick and Mindy Waitsman of Atlanta and Jim and Shirlee Wadsworth of Charlotte, N.C.

“We are very appreciative of the Waitsman family and their willingness to partner with South Georgia Technical College through the sponsorship of this very important scholarship,” said SGTC President Sparky Reeves. “This is a wonderful way for the family to honor the memory of their father and pay tribute to their mother while also allowing their legacy to continue for years to come.”

The Leonard and Marie Waitsman Marketing Scholarship endowment will guarantee indefinite educational opportunities that will impact students at SGTC for many years.