Amarillo College is pleased to announce that a total of 859 full-time students attained academic excellence worthy of inclusion on the Spring 2025 Dean’s List. To attain inclusion on the prestigious list, students must attend AC full time and earn a grade point average of 3.6 or higher.Full-time students who achieved Dean’s-List status for academic excellence in the spring of 2025 are listed alphabetically.

A photo of Rafael Aguirre, an 83-year-old lifelong learner, at Amarillo College’s graduation May 9 has captured the hearts of more than 7 million people across multiple social and news media platforms. “It’s evident that his story is a powerful reminder that it’s never too late to learn, grow, and positively impact others,” said Dr. Jamelle J. Conner, president of Amarillo College. “At AC, students can quickly earn meaningful certificates and degrees that lead to rewarding careers and help meet the growing demand for skilled workers in our region and beyond.  We are so proud of Rafael and all of our graduates who walked across the stage!” 

Teresa Herrera who served as AC’s assistant director of associate nursing, was awarded the prestigious 2024-2025 John F. Mead Faculty Excellence Award.She received AC’s foremost faculty accolade during commencement exercises May 9 at the Amarillo Civic Center Auditorium. “I was shock and thrilled,” Herrera said. “There is a lot of hard work in making a difference, so this was really a special reward coming from students and colleagues.” 

Rashmi Pillai, AC’s program coordinator for business technology, was awarded the prestigious 2024-2025 John F. Mead Faculty Excellence Award. She received AC’s foremost faculty accolade during commencement exercises May 9 at the Amarillo Civic Center Auditorium. “I was so shocked and almost tripped walking to the stage,” Pillai said. “You don’t do this work for awards, but it was such a nice sentiment from students and colleagues. Thank you to all who nominated me.” 

Celebrating 30 years of Tuesday night concerts in June, Amarillo College is gearing up for a favorite community tradition: Jim Laughlin June Jazz. This is 30th year for June Jazz, which commonly draws an audience of hundreds to the College and is named in honor of its founder and continuous organizer, Dr. Jim Laughlin, professor of music.

Culture, technology, and religion will be center stage during Amarillo College’s Chautauqua this fall. The Chautauqua series is a follow-up to AC’s Two Cultures series from last year.“There are so many questions in today’s world about being human as it relates to those around us and the technology we use,” said Dr. Robert Fulton, AC Chautauqua coordinator and associate professor of humanities. “This forum we started with last fall’s lecture series gave our community an ideal opportunity for learning and discussion, much like the original Chautauqua more than 100 years ago.”

The newest cadets, who have completed months of intensive training in preparation for careers in firefighting and emergency response, will graduate from Amarillo College’s Regional Fire Academy this weekend.The graduation ceremony will take place at noon Saturday, May 10 the AmTech Career Academy at 3601 Plains Blvd., in Amarillo. Family, friends, and community members are invited to join in celebrating the accomplishments of these future first responders.

Samantha Wilhelm knew Amarillo College would be a good place to start but only intended to stay a year. Two years later, Wilhelm earned her associate’s degree and will join Amarillo College’s Class of 2025 graduates at Commencement Friday, May 9 at the Amarillo Civic Center Coliseum."Since I was homeschooled, I thought the size and atmosphere at AC would make it a good place to start,” she said. “I have loved the environment here.”

Ester Perez can hardly wait to take her mother on the road with her as a traveling nuclear medicine technologist for those on their own cancer journey. Perez fought her own rare cancer in her 20’s and is now set to join Amarillo College’s Class of 2025 graduates Friday, May 9.Perez remembers scan days as some of the hardest in her experience and knows her work in nuclear medicine can make a difference.

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 today (May 1) and Friday, May 2. The East Campus is located at 1502 B Ave (google maps AC East Campus Building V).  

Amarillo College picked up a 2025 Outstanding Project from Learning By Design for the nearly 50,000 square-foot FirstBank Southwest Center on AC’s Washington Street campus in Amarillo. The designation appears in the spring issue of Learning By Design. “This exemplifies the creative and functional design that helped create a show piece on the campus,” said Chris Sharp, AC’s vice president of business affairs. “We are thrilled the work was recognized in this way.” 

High school students interested in a career in education or the liberal arts are set to attend Amarillo College’s Next Experience today(April 28) at Dutton Hall on AC’s Washington Street Campus. “Don’t miss out on this opportunity to jumpstart your teaching career,” said Rochelle Fouts, AC instructor of education. “We look forward to welcoming you to Amarillo College and helping you make the transition from high school to higher education.”

Amarillo College’s students and dual-credit students both competed in a state-wide contest at SkillsUSA Texas earlier this month in Corpus Christi. Together the group earned three first place finishes and those students qualified to compete in the national SkillsUSA competitions.“This was the first year that secondary and post-secondary students competed at the same location at the same time,” said Ernie Sheets, AC’s Manufacturing Education Center (MEC) department chair. “I feel this enhanced the experience for all post-secondary students in attendance. High school students are now able to see colleges competing which in turn developed a vision for continued education pathways.”

Amarillo College students and members of the Future Billionaires Club have created the first “Innovate U” event for AC students and employees to showcase their businesses set for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 23 at the Oeschger Family Mall at AC’s Washington Street campus. “We wanted to showcase our club by working with student and staff businesses,” said Christian Flores, a biology major and one of the event organizers. “There are so many talented students who work and/or have own their own business in addition to taking classes. Anyone is welcome to come check out these businesses.” 

Those who enjoy reading and watching romance will not want to miss the screening of the first episode of a new Netflix series “A Ransom Canyon” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22 at Amarillo College’s Innovation Outpost at 1220 S. Polk Street in Amarillo. Attendees will also have the chance to meet the author who inspired the series, Jodi Thomas. Thomas, a fifth generation Texan, began authoring novels as a teacher at Amarillo High School. Thomas's first novel, “Beneath the Texas Sky,” met with critical success. It won a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Western Romance and was designated a National Press Women Novel of the Year. 

The Amarillo College Cyber Challenge 2025 is a one-day cyber security challenge set for Friday, April 25 at AC’s Innovation Outpost at 1220 S. Polk Street in Amarillo. The competition is hosted on the CyberQ platform and features team and solo Capture the Flag challenges suited for high school, college, and early career IT professionals. 

Amarillo College and West Texas A&M University will together celebrate AC graduates and their transfer to WT with a signing day at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, April 15 at the Oeschger Family Mall at AC’s Washington Campus. Students who transferred this spring or plan to in the summer or fall are eligible to participate. All participants will be entered to win a scholarship and a WT swag giveaway.

Education Credit Union earned the prestigious Diamond Award from the Marketing, PR & Development Council’s annual competition for marketing excellence for the ECU Badger $mart Branch Grand Opening last year on Amarillo College’s campus. The event was the fruition of a partnership committed to establishing a student-run ECU branch at the College. The full-service retail branch provides the same financial services to ECU members that all branches offer, but outside of a few management-level ECU team members, all other employees at the Badger $mart Branch are AC students. The Aug. 15 event included a DJ, pizza and sodas, branded giveaways and a ceremonial ribbon-cutting.

Each spring, Amarillo College recognizes its most outstanding students at a formal and celebratory Honors Convocation, which this year will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 13 at the Amarillo Civic Center.The College commends and congratulates the following students for their significant academic achievements.

In celebration of their 45th anniversary, the Amarillo Master Chorale along with area vocalists and instrumentalists will stage G. F. Handel’s majestic "Messiah" at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 12 at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. “Throughout its history, the Amarillo Master Chorale has been pursuing ‘harmony and beauty in voice’ while exploring the fascinating territory between arts-entertainment and spiritual formation,” said Dr. Nathaniel Fryml, AC’s director of Choral Activities and artistic director of the Master Chorale. “Handel’s complete 'Messiah' felt like a perfect fit for our anniversary season because it sits boldly in that indefinable space and provides such wonderful opportunities for community engagement and partnership.”