Discovery High School’s John Pittman named Gwinnett County’s 2025 CTAE Student of the Year

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA—John Pittman of Discovery High School has been named Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) 2025 Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) Student of the Year. The 12th-grade student  was recognized at the CTAE award ceremony on Feb. 25. The event recognizes student achievements in CTAE courses during their high school careers.

This year, 26 students were selected from a field of high-performing GCPS high school students, including Jabari Morrison of Shiloh High School, who was named 1st runner-up, and Landon Sturgeon of Mountain View High School, who was named 2nd runner-up.

The 2025 GCPS local school winners are:

• Sebastian Ciocu-Jitian of Archer HS
   
• Edgar Encarnacion Gomez of Berkmar HS
   
• Vyom Thakkar of Brookwood HS
   
• Mamadou Bah of Central Gwinnett HS
   
• Ari Patel of Collins Hill HS
   
• Jaylen O’Brien of Dacula HS
   
• John Pittman of Discovery HS – Finalist
   
• Kseniya Ivanova of Duluth HS – Finalist
   
• Minh Tran of Grayson HS – Finalist
   
• Trey Watkins of Grayson HS Technical Education Program – Finalist
  (Watson attends Grayson High School and is enrolled in Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education courses at Grayson High School Technical Education Program)
   
• Shivali Singh of Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
   
• Ri’Asia Dollison of Lanier HS
   
• Gurleen Kaur of Maxwell HS of Technology
  (Gurleen attends Seckinger High School and is enrolled in Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education courses at Maxwell High School of Technology)
• Aulelei Pinkston of McClure Health Science HS
   
• Joanne Doan of Meadowcreek HS
   
• Shaan Naik of Mill Creek HS
   
• Landon Sturgeon of Mountain View HS – Finalist
   
• Matthew Mitchell of Norcross HS
   
• Joseph Farkas of North Gwinnett HS
   
• Iva Velani of Parkview HS
   
• Mihir Pai of Paul Duke STEM HS
   
• Doussou Sylla of Peachtree Ridge HS
   
• Chris Nambo of Phoenix HS
   
• Julianne Oldknow of Seckinger HS
   
• Jabari Morrison of Shiloh HS – Finalist
   
• Christian Francis of South Gwinnett HS

     Nominees were required to submit a resume, a letter of recommendation from the nominating teacher, information on participation in a Career and Technical Student Organization, community service, and an essay. A panel of judges, consisting of business and industry leaders, interviewed finalists. 

     Watch the livestream of the CTAE Student of the Year event and hear their inspiring remarks about their career paths: gcpstv.org .

Pictured: John Pittman, a senior at Discovery High School in Gwinnett County, GA. Photo provided by GCPS.