AmTech Career Academy is announced the Most Innovative Learning Space
AmTech Career Academy recently announced it has been named the Most Innovative Learning Space by Tech & Learning Magazine.
“I think the exciting thing for our district and our community is that it opens the doors for students to explore many different career pathways and learn what their next step is when they leave us,” said Karen Pierce, CTE program director for Amarillo Independent School District.
The magazine announced the winner and flew the school's principal out to receive the award during a conference in Orlando, Florida.
“We had been nominated for this award and had been notified a week before we were in the finals and (they) paid for me to attend. ... Then it was time to present the awards for different categories, and Most Innovative Learning Spaces didn’t come up. And again, and again, and I thought, ‘This is agony,’ and then it came. And it was just amazing to hear my name and hear AmTech Career Academy being mentioned,” said Jay Barrett, principal of AmTech Career Academy.
“The other schools and the people that were there representing those schools were all amazed at what we're doing here in Amarillo at AmTech,” he said.
The new school opened halfway last August, with the other half opening in January. The academy includes new, state-of-the-art facilities in its 235,000-square-foot learning space, with 1,900 students coming from five different high schools for two to five periods per day to take courses that lead to industry-based certifications. The academy currently offers more than 35 career pathways, with specialized learning facilities including an esports arena and a robot/drone coliseum. Hands-on labs include flight simulators and a VR simulation for law and public service students.
“It gives them real world applications. They have opportunities to earn industry-based certifications, and they get work-based learning experiences through these pathways," Pierce said.
Barrett’s team has given tours of their campus to more than 3,000 people this year. The school's graphic design team turned the visitors' most common words into a bumper sticker: "I wish they had a place like this when I was a kid.”
The school's principal said that since the conference, individuals from all over the nation are scheduling to visit the school and see its unique learning spaces.
“They're now wanting to come here and visit. There is a school about six hours away in Wichita, Kansas, who said they are excited to come and see everything that they saw in my presentation, another group out of Alabama, another in Ohio. But most importantly, Tech and Learning Publisher was there, and she is wanting to hold a summit here at AmTech in 2023,” Barrett said.
He also mentioned that SMART Technologies is bringing a film crew to the school as part of their "Connections That Matter" series to highlight the way AmTech is using the space and knowledge for the entire community.
“I think the entire staff was excited when Mr. Barrett brought back the award from Orlando, and he would say this too: This award really speaks to the work that our instructors have done in partnership with the community,” Pierce said.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Tech & Learning Magazine announces AmTech Career Academy as the Most Innovative Learning Space
