"I came

into art class a couple of weeks ago and the teacher announced that I'd

won," Michael said. "I was pretty surprised."

More than 1,100

students from around the state submitted design entries featuring Georgia

manufacturers and their products. The three design categories were placemat,

poster and T-shirt. Michael designed his winning T-shirt during a graphic

arts class at McIntosh.

"I've

always liked art," Michael said. "But I didn't pursue it in

school until my sophomore year when I was mistakenly placed in a graphic

arts class. I was ready to change my schedule until I heard the teacher

(Margo Booth) give a description of the class on the first day. I've taken

art ever since."

Michael plans

to attend Clemson University in South Carolina next year and wants to

study graphic communication. He is the news editor for The McIntosh Trail,

the school newspaper.

Michael has

grown up in Peachtree City. His father, Michael Amosu, is a manufacturing

supervisor at Dynatron Bondo and his mother Bertha is a controller for

Doubletree Club Hotel. Michael has two sisters, Kami, 26, and Michelle,

13.

The awards

luncheon was the culmination of Manufacturing Appreciation Week, celebrated

this year April 15-19. Organized by Georgians for Manufacturing, MAW celebrates

the manufacturing component of Georgia's economy. According to the Governor's

proclamation declaring Manufacturing Appreciation Week, approximately

10,000 manufacturing facilities are located in Georgia, providing 600,000

jobs and more than $52 billion to the state's economy.

This is the

eighth year celebrating MAW in Georgia. This year's sponsors include BellSouth,

Georgia Power, Patillo Construction, KPMG consulting, Ranstad North America

and the Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute.