The Machining Program at Amarillo College is proud to announce that one of its students is a SkillsUSA state champion, an honor accompanied by an invitation to attend a national event.

Adrian Zapata demonstrated unparalleled skill in the Programming 3-axis CNC Milling competition at the SkillsUSA Texas State Leadership and Skills Conference in April at Corpus Christi. In capturing first place in the statewide contest, Zapata now qualifies to compete at the National SkillsUSA Conference this summer in Atlanta, Ga.

For the second year in a row, Chris George, instructor of computer information systems and cybersecurity at Amarillo College, has received the distinguished Instructor Excellence Award from the Cisco Networking Academy.

The award, just as it did in 2023, recognizes George as an “Expert Level Instructor” and for being ranked “among the top 10 percent of instructors globally in student feedback and performance.”

The uplifting experience Jose “J.J.” Ruiz had while attending a high school choir camp at Amarillo College convinced the promising tenor to continue his music education at AC – even if it meant a daily commute from his home in Dumas.

Two years later, the payoff far outweighs what was no small commitment of time and resources just for travel alone; for Ruiz has just accepted a full scholarship to attend and study music at Texas Christian University.

Amarillo College will conduct a pair of Spring commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 10 at the Amarillo Civic Center, where as many as 1,153 spring and summer 2024 graduates will be eligible to take part in the back-to-back rites of passage.

The first ceremony begins at 3 p.m. and will be a celebration of graduates from AC’s Health Sciences, Industry, and Public Service communities.

When the original signatories of the Rural Nursing Education Consortium (RNEC) met at Amarillo College on Feb. 26, 2019, the document they inked that day articulated an ambitious goal: to establish a pipeline of homegrown nurses that would meet staffing needs of the Consortium’s hospitals in the Texas Panhandle.

Dr. Asanga Ranasinghe, Distinguished Research Scientist at Amarillo College, is pleased to announce the acquisition of a collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation likely to bolster the flow of AC STEM scholars to West Texas A&M University.

Ranasinghe said the $75,000 grant will be used to obtain an Ice Nucleation Cold Stage, an instrument for researching and teaching cloud microphysics in science and engineering classes. The NSF earmarked these particular funds to benefit minority-serving institutions.

Amarillo College is pleased to announce its upcoming Men in Healthcare career exploration event, which is from 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2 in the Lecture Hall on the West Campus, 6222 SW 9th Ave.

This event is part of the College's ongoing effort to encourage and support men in pursuing non-traditional gender careers, particularly in the healthcare field.

Each spring, Amarillo College recognizes its most outstanding students at a formal and celebratory Honors Convocation, which this year was conducted on Sunday, April 14 at the Amarillo Civic Center.

The College commends and congratulates the following students for their significant academic achievements.

The two individuals who have been selected as finalists to become the next Amarillo College president are scheduled to attend 75-minute open forums during the week of April 15-19 in Ordway Hall on AC’s Washington Street Campus.

The open forum featuring Dr. Laura Boyer will be from 3 to 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16.

A patriotic musical about America’s first female soldiers – The Hello Girls – the unsung bilingual women who operated telephones and helped turn the tide of World War I – will cap Amarillo College’s Theatre Arts Program season.

The Hello Girls will enjoy a six-day run over a couple of weeks at the Experimental Theatre on the Washington Street Campus. Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. on April 26-27 and May 2-4, and the run will be capped with a matinee beginning at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 5.

Abhijit Bhaduri, bestselling author of Career 3.0 and noted management consultant who has led HR teams at Microsoft, Pepsi, Colgate and Tata Steel, will share his insights with students about careers and the future of work on Wednesday, April 24 at Amarillo College.

Bhaduri’s talk, which is titled “Career and the Future of Work,” will be presented from noon to 1 p.m. at Ordway Hall, which is located at the corner of Washington Street and SW 22nd Avenue.

The first students to complete the Construction Technology Program that Ernie Sheets launched a couple years ago at Amarillo College will cross the stage at Spring Commencement, and their mentor’s emotions will be running high.

“Sometimes I get a little teary-eyed just thinking about it,” said Sheets, who at AC coordinates construction technology and additionally serves as chairman for all the manufacturing programs. “Those students have become things they didn’t realize they could be,” – carpenters, cabinet makers, a plumber, and more.

Dozens of women who want to learn about technical-career opportunities long associated with the male gender will get that chance on Thursday, April 18 when Amarillo College hosts “Women in Industry” on the East Campus.

The event is from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and participants will engage in intensive career exploration (specifically, from 10:50 a.m. until 12:15 p.m.) relevant to pursuit of technical careers.

Before the sun sets on Amarillo College’s 2023-24 Art Force Piano Series, concertgoers will be transported on a harmonious Journey to the East.

The fourth and final installment of the Piano Series features the accomplished husband-wife duo of Dr. Alex Lee (violin/viola) and Dr. Sophie Hung (piano), both of whom serve on the faculty at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU).

Amarillo College is pleased to announce that its Communications and Marketing Department parlayed its “Success is Timeless” promo campaign into some significant recognition at the 39th Annual Education Advertising Awards.

An elite national organization known for recognizing excellence in higher education advertising, the Education Advertising Awards (EduAwards) presented seven total accolades to Amarillo College. Six of the laurels are at the highest Gold level, and four of those are directly related to the “Success is Timeless” campaign.

Six Amarillo College dual credit students who currently attend AmTech Career Academy have qualified for state competition in computer numerical control (CNC) machining events.

The qualifiers earned the right to compete at the state level based on the excellent results they achieved while competing at the SkillsUSA District 3 Leadership & Skills Conference at South Plains College in February.

Lush rainforests, canals brimming with wildlife, geothermal hot springs, and spectacular waterfalls await 15 Amarillo College Presidential Scholars who will explore the biodiversity of Costa Rica over spring break.

The nine-day sojourn, during which students will study sustainable living in a wildlife-laden environment, begins March 9 and fulfills the promise of unique travel-abroad learning opportunities afforded AC’s Presidential Scholars.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has awarded a $100,000 grant to Amarillo College (AC) to continue funding AC’s Safety and Environmental Technology program, which provides workplace safety and health courses for community employers, employees and the general public.

This is the ninth consecutive year that Texas Mutual, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, has given a $100,000 grant to the college to support its risk management program.

The Amarillo Symphony’s season-long centennial celebration continues Feb. 23-24 not only with Gustav Mahler’s soulful Fifth Symphony, but with an exciting new composition by Dr. Nathan Fryml of the Amarillo College music faculty.

Fryml, an associate professor of music who serves as director of choral activities at AC and also as director of the Amarillo Master Chorale, was commissioned by the Symphony to compose a piece for the centennial season. The result is Novae Laudis, a cantata of just over 15 minutes in duration, a euphonious blending of the Symphony and the Master Chorale.

Nine particularly accomplished student musicians have been selected by the music faculty at Amarillo College to showcase their talents in this year’s Student Honors Recital at AC.

The recital, which is free and open to the public, will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27 at the Concert Hall Theater on the Washington Street Campus.