WASHINGTON, D.C., April 20, 2023 — In 2021, when the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program christened Amarillo College a Rising Star, it could only speculate that AC’s ascendancy would continue, that the Rising Star might one day eclipse the stratosphere.

There’s no question now that it has.

Amarillo College and the Texas Panhandle Art Education Association proudly present IGNITE: High School Creative Arts Conference, which will draw more than 400 talented high school students to AC’s Washington Street Campus on Friday, April 21.

The event kicks off at 9 a.m. in Ordway Hall with a welcome and panel discussion led by writer and journalist Jason Boyett of Brick & Elm and Hey Amarillo, and featuring four successful creatives who will discuss “Creating Careers.”

The only individual to receive a Point of Light award from two sitting U.S. Presidents – Amy Blankson – will headline the 2023 installment of the Amarillo College Creative Mind Lecture Series, the theme for which is Digital Flourishing.

Blankson is CEO of the Digital Wellness Institute and the bestselling author of The Future of Happiness.

On Thursday, April 20, the Amarillo College (AC) community will turn its collective attention toward Washington D.C., for the Aspen Institute’s much-anticipated announcement of which community college is the nation’s very best.

AC is once again among the Top 10 finalists for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of America’s community colleges. It is awarded every two years.

John Betancourt, a member of the Amarillo College Board of Regents, was pleased when his application was approved so that he may attend a NALEO Policy Institute conference during the last week of April in New York City.

NALEO, in which Betancourt holds membership, is the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, and the limited-capacity conference is titled “Economic Mobility: Building the Infrastructure of Opportunity for Latinos.”

High school students from throughout the Texas Panhandle are expected to converge on Amarillo College’s East Campus to showcase their work and compete for prizes at the Top of Texas Career & Technical Education Expo.

The event is Tuesday and Wednesday, April 25-26. The East Campus (view map) is located at 1401 J Ave.

Each year AC and WT come together and showcase the best work by our students and faculty. It is such a fun party and the artwork on display is always amazing. Students learn about preparing work for exhibition and get their first taste of seeing their art on display in a museum. The reception is such a joyous occasion. Come be inspired.

The Construction Technology Program at Amarillo College is pleased to announce that two of its high-achieving students have been selected to participate in the 2023 SkillsUSA Texas Ambassador Fellowship Program.

Additionally, those two students – Vania Esparza and Brandon Martinez Olvera – will be among a contingent of 30 AC students who will take part in the SkillsUSA state competition April 14-15 in Houston.

Amarillo College teammates Andrew Gonzales and Daniel Guillen were unsurpassed in the Application Development competition at the United States Information Technology Collegiate Conference (USITCC) on April 1 in Plano.

The AC duo edged out the second- and third-place teams, both from Missouri State University, to capture a National Championship in their event.

There is more to Dr. Jennifer Rabson than meets the eye.

The assistant professor of chemistry at Amarillo College is not only a dedicated scientist, she is a versatile musician whose polished voice has long been integral to the Amarillo Master Chorale.

“She is a longtime alto in our group and a real joy to have,” said Dr. Nathan Fryml, AC’s director of choral activities and artistic director of the Amarillo Master Chorale. “She is greatly valued and bends over backwards to perform with us despite her very demanding academic schedule.”

Renowned pianist John Bayless, a product of Borger, Texas, who has performed in preeminent auditoriums worldwide, will put his incomparable talents on display in April at Amarillo College (AC) for a concert that is free and open to the public.

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 11 in the Concert Hall Theater on the Washington Street Campus. It will be the fourth and final installment of AC’s 2022-2023 Art Force Piano Series.

Amarillo College’s student media brought home 27 awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) convention March 23-25 in Fort Worth.

TIPA is the oldest state collegiate journalism association in the nation. The group’s members include more than 60 Texas colleges and universities, two-year and four-year; private and public. Since its formation in 1909, TIPA has grown into one of the largest and most respected collegiate groups in the country.

Recently, nursing education far and wide has been shifting to a concept-based curriculum (CBC), and thanks to a grant from the Harrington Cancer and Health Foundation, Amarillo College has remained at the forefront of that big change.

AC received a $250,000 Harrington grant late in 2021 to help expand capacity in the Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program through the addition of a never-before-offered night-classes component that prioritizes the new CBC approach.

Amarillo College is pleased to announce that Chris George, instructor of computer information systems and cybersecurity at Amarillo College, has received the Instructor Excellence Award from the Cisco Networking Academy.

The award recognizes George as an “Expert Level Instructor” and for being ranked “among the top 10 percent of instructors globally in student feedback and performance.”

Aaron Hegert used a branch of artificial intelligence called “deep learning” to create a series of images that compares the way people see photographs to the way algorithms see them.

Hegert, an assistant professor of photography at Texas Tech University, will display his images March 24 to May 4 at Amarillo College’s Southern Light Gallery in an exhibit he calls Shallow Learning.

Christie Martinez continues to reap the rewards of the academic excellence she demonstrated at Amarillo College, where, in addition to graduating in December 2022, she also served as student commencement speaker.

Martinez, an education major who graduated from AC with highest honors and plans to become an elementary school teacher, has been named a 2023 Coca-Cola Academic Team Silver Scholar and will receive a $1,250 scholarship.

Based on outstanding accomplishments and dedication to student success, Amarillo College has been selected to participate in Talent Strong Texas Pathways.

The $16 million 5-year statewide economic mobility grant administered by the Texas Success Center is designed to increase the number of credentialed Texans prepared for high-demand careers that offer a living wage.

Amarillo College is pleased to announce that it is once again the recipient of a magnanimous gift from its most consistent benefactor, Amarillo National Bank (ANB), which today presented the College with $2.5 million.

Today’s gift significantly boosts ANB’s contributions to the College’s $45 million Badger Bold comprehensive campaign, which was publicly launched in September of 2022 behind ANB’s “lead gift” of $1.2 million.

Amarillo College is pleased to announce that its Communications and Marketing Department has received nine prestigious accolades, including six of Gold and three of Silver, in the 38th Annual Education Advertising Awards.

AC captured Gold Awards for a variety of initiatives, from its Relaunch of Badger Athletics to its efforts in support of AC’s comprehensive campaign, Badger Bold.

A visit to the prison on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years behind bars – with some of his former cell mates serving as tour guides – awaits Amarillo College Presidential Scholars who will travel to South Africa over Spring Break.

“I can’t wait for the first-person perspectives of the tour guides,” AC freshman Leah Aviles, an international business major, said. “How amazing is it that we’ll get to hear the insights of people who spent time with and actually knew such an influential and inspiring person?”