AmTech Career Academy wins national award for innovative learning space

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Tech & Learning Magazine announced that AmTech was the nationwide recipient of the ‘Most Innovative Learning Spaces’ Award.

The award was presented at the in Tech & Learning Leadership Summit in Orlando, earlier this week to the Academy.

Tech & Learning Magazine hosts this summit to honor exceptional administrators across the country who are making a difference in their school districts.

AmTech Career Academy principal, Jay Barrett attended the summit and created a presentation over the different learning spaces at AmTech.

Barrett was able to share the different opportunities offered at AmTech and was surprised when his short presentation turned into a Q&A with the audience.

“It was supposed to be a ten-minute presentation, which turned into 40 minutes because people started asking questions- I knew right away that they had never seen anything like this and no one believed it until I started showing images of AmTech’s unique innovative learning spaces,” says Barrett.

Barrett felt humbled and blessed to win the national award.

“We could have all the unique spaces in the world but if we didn’t have students who are dedicated and driven with a passion to succeed and if we didn’t have professionals in that classroom leading them to success none of this would really matter,” says Barrett.

AmTech student, Lauren Miller considers AmTech a second home.

“The teachers care about you and that’s not something you really get often and it makes you feel like you’re at home,” says Miller.

Miller feels like AmTech has helped equip her for future career goals.

“Our school currently doesn’t have a program of engineering and that’s why I came to AmTech, being here has really helped me to broaden my horizon and now I know what I’m walking into with the engineering field,” says Miller.

Barrett says that AmTech is an inclusive community with like-minded students who want to chase their passions.

“What we’ve been able to do is create an energy by putting everyone here, when they look and see that there are others with the same interests as they have- that’s empowering,” says Barrett.

Miller has had the opportunity to serve in a leadership role at AmTech.

“It has also shown me how to be a great leader, I am the team captain of the robotics team at AmTech,” says Miller.

Barrett says it is important to prepare the students for life after high school.

“It is our goal to encourage the students to be passionate about their career choices, at the end of the day when they are seniors, they will take a certification test and they will not only leave here with a high school diploma, industry-based certification, but they will leave here with the professional skills that will help them be successful beyond high school,” says Barrett.

The campus opened in August of 2021, and the west wing of campus renovations recently finished on January 10, of this year.

Barrett is planning for all renovations and construction at AmTech to be finished by the end of February.

“This place will never stop being constructed... we always want to grow, and we always want to continue to move towards that future, and the future is coming to us very quickly and we want to be one step ahead of what’s to come,” says Barrett.

Right now, AmTech serves 1,900 students from five different high schools in Amarillo and plans to continue to expand in the future.

For additional information on AmTech Career Academy and their mission click here.

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