It’s still summer, but school will be back in session before we know it. And that includes locals of all ages, from preschoolers first entering a classroom setting to college students, physicians-in-training and beyond. We’re excited to bring readers this special section about education, which covers everything from private academies to public schools, from nonprofits to higher education
It was nothing short of prophetic when the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program christened Amarillo College (AC) a Rising Star in 2021; for just two years after receiving that uplifting designation, the ascension is complete. On April 20, the Aspen Institute named AC winner of the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s 1,100-plus community colleges. AC today stands second to none.
In accepting the preeminent Aspen Prize at a festive ceremony in Washington, D.C., AC President Russell LoweryHart declared, “We will use this recognition as a springboard for greater improvements. We are certainly not a perfect College, but today, at this moment, we are a proud one.”
AC is hardly a best-kept secret. Most are aware that it’s comprised of seven campuses in three Panhandle counties. Folks know AC offers more than 140 degree and certificate options at a cost that is approximately one-third that of attending a public university in Texas. The Aspen Institute, however, drills down into the soul of the institutions it deems worthy of assessment; they seek data.
The Aspen Prize, awarded every two years, is focused on student success and based on outstanding achievement in five critical areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, and equity for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. Through data-supported actions, AC has increased its three-year completion rates across all the demographics Aspen measures, and the same can be said for AC’s transfer rates and subsequent bachelor’s degree attainment. AC’s overall three-year completion rate has practically doubled since 2015, soaring from 30 percent to 57 percent. Over the same span, the College has experienced an across-the-board, 139-percent increase in certificates and degrees being awarded, and the increases are more pronounced among students of color—179 percent among Hispanics, and 208 percent among African Americans.
AC began to take a foothold on the national landscape in 2015 due to its innovative and multi-faceted response to internal surveys revealing that students who underachieve academically were not necessarily experiencing problems in the classroom. Rather, they were overwhelmingly thwarted by issues related to transportation, childcare, health care, food and housing insecurity, utilities, and legal services—life was getting in the way of school. Therefore, the College adopted a Culture of Caring to help mitigate issues of poverty and connect all students with academic and social services structured to help them overcome barriers. And the entire workforce dedicated itself to “loving students to success.”
“We made our Culture of Caring the foundation of every decision we made moving forward,” Lowery-Hart says. “Community colleges are uniquely situated to glue our communities together, and love times learning equals success.”
The College next established a free legal aid clinic, a career and employment center, a childcare center, as well as an Advocacy and Resource Center that houses a food pantry and connects students with social services provided by more than 60 local nonprofits. AC also opened a Counseling Center staffed by professionals to address behavioral health; condensed most traditional 16-week semesters into 8-week classes, instantly improving time-to-degree completions; and aligned programs of study with Career Communities that present AC students with clear course sequences and precise timelines to completion. Success Coaches aid students by providing individualized pathway guidance and mentoring.
Peer colleges experiencing similar student-success challenges began to take note of AC’s game-changing strategies. Over the past four years, representatives from close to 300 community colleges have flocked to AC to seek advice and learn more from the College that was, and still is, leading the way. The Aspen Institute was watching, too, of course, and in 2021 AC was named a Rising Star. Yet AC’s accomplishments since then have been, at the very least, equally transformative, and are too abundant to fully list. Among them, though, and for the first time in its history, the College received a perfect score during reaffirmation of its regional 10-year accreditation. AC received not a single recommendation for improvement, a true rarity in higher education. Not only did the accrediting committee wholeheartedly endorse AC’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), the cornerstone of the reaccreditation effort, but they were not alone in their praise. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board singled out the QEP for a prestigious Star Award, which essentially is the gold standard of laurels earmarked for post-secondary schools in Texas. AC’s distinctive QEP aligns developmental courses with credit-bearing courses so that underprepared students can be placed simultaneously in both, earn transferable credit hours, and thus achieve success at a significantly faster pace.
In 2022, AC also introduced a virtual health care plan called TimelyCare. The service is totally free and accessible not only to all students who are enrolled in academic classes, but to their dependents as well. It provides basic medical and mental healthcare 24 hours a day from licensed physicians and counselors.
AC works with industry to produce a skilled pipeline for the regional workforce and launched work-based learning so students can simultaneously earn credit hours, relevant experience, and paychecks. AC graduates earn, on average, $11,000 more one year after graduation than all new hires in the region. The list could go on.
The Aspen Prize indeed is a heady capstone to a phenomenal era for AC; however, the prestigious national accolade more pragmatically underscores the benefits students reap from those myriad initiatives that led the College to catch lightning in a bottle.
“Ascension Academy is a great private school that offers so many opportunities for families who want to provide their children a great education to fit their specific needs. They offer small class sizes, which means your child will have one-on-one attention from teachers and will receive the extra help they need. Ascension Academy offers a rigorous curriculum that prepares students for college and more.”
—Current Ascension Parent, Dey Gabriel
Ascension students range in social and economic status, athletic abilities, artistic expression and academic skills. What these diverse students have in common is a desire to be challenged in an environment where they can be themselves and be an important part of a close-knit community that recognizes their individual gifts and talents.
Ascension is a place where students can find themselves and their passion. It is a place where they can be challenged academically in a safe environment. It is a place where they can branch out and try new things. All of these things add up to make Ascension a unique school community that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the Panhandle—it is the Ascension Difference.
“Both of my Ascension graduates left Ascension Academy with vast knowledge and the ability to multitask in and out of the classroom, and were prepared for the rigors of college-level classes and academic work. Both of them feel that they had an easier time transitioning to college life and curriculum because of the academic foundation that Ascension gave them.”
—Current and Alumni Parent, Deanna Morris
Ascension students are encouraged and supported to become well-rounded individuals who can call themselves Scholars, Artists, Athletes, and Leaders—our Four Pillars. Grounded in our Four Pillars and given opportunities to grow, an Ascension Graduate becomes a confident, collaborative, lifelong learner who is well-prepared for success in college and in life. How are students grounded in the Four Pillars? The school offers unique electives in addition to advanced core classes, language courses, leadership opportunities, athletic programs, fine arts, student clubs, and TAPPS or WTCAA competitions in the arts, academics, and athletics.
Ascension Academy is committed to furnishing an exemplary college-preparatory education to its students. It offers a number of AP, Dual-Credit, and Pre-AP courses. All core classes are vertically aligned, beginning in middle school. Students have earned prestigious recognitions, such as National Merit Scholar, National Hispanic Scholar, Texas Aerospace Scholar, AP Capstone Diploma Scholar, DAR Award Scholar, and National AP Scholar. Ascension Academy is also a member of the Cum Laude Society and National Honor Society, and inducts members each spring.
Ascension Academy is one of only 14 Cum Laude Society member schools in the state of Texas. The prestigious Cum Laude Society of 383 chapters worldwide, honors the scholastic achievement of secondary school students.
The opportunity for creative expression is both valued and encouraged at Ascension Academy, and many students are enrolled in multiple fine art disciplines. Ascension offers several levels of Orchestra, Band, and Choir, in addition to Studio Art, and Theater. Ascension Artists are passionate about their craft, and spend countless hours practicing on and off campus. The result is award-winning programs and coveted memberships, such as the International Thespian Society.
Ascension Academy recognizes the need for students to develop physically as well as mentally. Athletics provides abundant opportunities for character development—from teamwork and coachability to perseverance and humility. Ascension offers a robust number of sports and many students also participate in off-campus athletics that support their passion and earn credit.
Leadership is a quality that Ascension intentionally works to develop in all of its students. Students are members of councils and ambassador groups, and are the face of Ascension at all campus ceremonies and events. They plan, execute, and lead these important activities, in addition to setting an example for others. Students are encouraged to engage in a number of activities and groups that take them beyond the classroom in order to foster a deeper understanding of their responsibilities to their community.
“[My daughter] came into Ascension as a quiet, shy sixth-grader. Today, she is challenged in and out of the classroom and she has the confidence to go out and try new activities at school. She has become a leader, speaks her ideas in the room, and is a supporting voice to others around her.”
—Current and Alumni Parent, Deanna Morris
Ascension Academy has a 100 percent acceptance rate for its graduating classes every year. The Class of 2023, a diverse group of 27 students, received more than $1.6 million in university offered, merit-based scholarships from more than 40 colleges and universities. Ascension Academy graduates attend colleges across the country, ranging from every major college and university in Texas, to East Coast schools such as Yale, Princeton, and NYU to West Coast schools such as UCLA, Stanford, and Pepperdine, and many more in between.
The Ascension Difference creates confident, independent learners who are successful in college and beyond, as they begin careers or advanced degrees. Ascension graduates are those college students who excel in their fields of study and are those their classmates depend on to get help in advanced math or to review an English paper. They take leadership roles on their campuses and in their communities. They take their knowledge, compassion, and leadership skills with them wherever they go because they learned and practiced what being a global citizen means as Cardinals at Ascension Academy.
The farmers and ranchers of the Texas Panhandle are the backbone of our West Texas culture, economy, and way of life. AgTexas serves these memberowners with credit and crop insurance at multiple branches, including an Amarillo location which servies Potter, Randall, Armstrong, Carson and Oldham counties. AgTexas lending experts live and work in the communities where they serve. They understand local needs and make loan decisions locally. They are passionate about helping members thrive and about supporting agriculture.
That means AgTexas is also passionate about supporting the next generation of ag producers. The lending cooperative does this by taking part in a variety of local youth programs and sponsorships. Sometimes that happens through financial donations, and sometimes it means donating time and talents.
But by far, AgTexas’ favorite way to support ag youth is through a scholarship program: the AgTexas Ag Youth of the Month
This program recognizes the best and brightest young minds in Texas by honoring those students who excel in the classroom and serve as leaders in their FFA chapters and 4-H clubs.
Both organizations offer educational experiences centered around agriculture. Participants learn everything from animal husbandry to agricultural mechanics, all while gaining valuable life skills including teamwork, problemsolving and communication. Many of AgTexas’ team members today got their start in these organizations during their teenage years.
The Ag Youth of the Month program, which began in 2015, supports these young ag students throughout Texas, including within the Texas Panhandle. For Ag Youth of the Month, each chapter or club advisor selects students to submit an online application to their local branch. Each AgTexas Farm Credit branch then forms a committee to review and select six winners for each location, recognizing one each with the Ag Youth of the Month award for November, December, January, February, March and April.
AgTexas encourages these advisors and students to begin submitting their online applications mid-August.
The Ag Youth of the Month award fulfills four purposes:
1. To raise the profile of 4-H and FFA by recognizing outstanding senior class leaders within these organizations.
2. To recognize these monthly winners in local media, social media and the AgTexas website.
3. To bring together these outstanding young men and women at annual banquets.
4. To create scholarship opportunities to help graduating seniors afford a college education.
AgTexas Ag Youth of the Month recipients are eligible for the Ag Youth Distinguished Alumni Scholarship, which is reserved exclusively for past Ag Youths of the Month. Since 2015, AgTexas has recognized more than 600 students and awarded nearly $200,000 in scholarships. To learn more about the scholarship, visit agtexas.com/agyouth
AMARILLO: 806-376-4669
BROWNFIELD: 806-637-3589
BURLESON: 817-293-6103
DUMAS: 806-935-6851
HEREFORD: 806-641-1730
HILLSBORO: 254-582-2471
LEVELLAND: 806-894-6119
LUBBOCK: 806-745-4575
PLAINVIEW: 806-296-2782
SEMINOLE: 432-758-3201
STEPHENVILLE: 254-965-3151
Opportunity School has been providing high-quality, early childhood education for local families since 1969. That’s more than a half-century of giving at-risk children a solid foundation for learning before they enter the school system. But Executive Director Jill Goodrich still encounters people in the community who are surprised by what the organization offers.
“I’m always struck by people who say, ‘I didn’t know you did that,’” Goodrich says with a smile. “We have two campuses and have reached more than 5,000 children since opening in 1969, but a lot of people still aren’t sure what sets us apart.”
The core of what Opportunity School provides is affordable education during the early years of a child’s life—from birth to five—primarily to children from low-income families. But a few of the organization’s benefits are less familiar:
Early Intervention: Until children enter the classroom, their families often aren’t aware of developmental delays, learning disabilities or medical diagnoses that may be impacting a child’s ability to learn. The teachers and staff at Opportunity School are trained to watch for these potential barriers, under the supervision of a full-time intervention specialist. “Some kiddos struggle with communication or may not be as verbal as they should be for their age,” says Goodrich. “A new parent without a support system may not realize their child is delayed in that area, but those are things that can be super-important to address early.”
Providing early intervention and supporting families in the process is vital to Opportunity School’s work. For instance, the organization has partnered with the Department of Communication Disorders at WTAMU to provide occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech and language screenings. “We have WT interns who are learning to be speech and language therapists,” says Goodrich. “They come to work with children at all our locations.”
Student assessments help teachers monitor progress and age-related milestones. “We are very intentional about that. Our curriculum and lesson plans involve age-appropriate activities that help develop foundations for reading literacy, math, using the right muscle groups and more,” she says. Children’s brains develop rapidly during these years—80 percent of the brain is “wired” by the age of 3—so what they learn in preschool impacts them for years to come, explains Goodrich. “We start early so they get on the right pathway. They won’t need as much intervention as they get into school.”
Professional Development: Many organizations are struggling in the current job market, and Goodrich admits it can be hard to find qualified early childhood educators. But Opportunity School isn’t just looking for warm bodies to babysit toddlers. “We are looking
for educators who connect with our mission, and if they don’t have experience in the field, are willing to learn,” she says. “Our professional development program is very specific to this age group and focused on developmentally appropriate practices.”
Many staff members at Opportunity School are beginning educational careers and value the training they receive. “In addition to our internal professional development, we also bring in great outside speakers,” says Goodrich. “They might be from our national accrediting body or might provide training about our curriculum.”
As a nonprofit that depends on donated funds, Opportunity School is always careful with how it spends money. But Goodrich views professional development as one of the most important expenditures in her program’s budget. “We are growing, but not at the expense of quality, so professional development throughout our team helps us maintain a high-quality program,” she says.
Social & Emotional Problem-Solving: Many parents think the most important things children learn in preschool are basics like shapes, colors, numbers and the alphabet. Those are facts and figures—the so-called “hard skills.” But Goodrich says soft skills may be even more important.
“You have to teach social and emotional skills just like you teach a child to tie her shoe or write his name,” she says. “We can’t just tell kids to ‘behave’ and expect them to know what that means or how to do it. So we focus on teaching a very broad set of social skills.”
For instance, many kids haven’t learned how to handle intense emotions like sadness or anger. “Kids need to know that we understand they’re having big feelings, that they are safe and that we will help them develop the tools to understand how to keep themselves and others safe when they have those big feelings,” she says. “That’s what gives them the confidence to stand up to a bully in middle school or, in third grade, to tell someone ‘I don’t like you pulling my hair.’ We all need those skills in every walk of life.”
Opportunity School has been able to build brains for more than five decades because of generous support from individuals and corporations throughout the community who recognize the difference Opportunity School is making in the lives of local children and their families. “We’re not just plopping kids in front of a TV,” Goodrich says. “We are a high-quality program that prepares young kids for school, while supporting parents who need to be at work.”
If you would like to make a lasting difference for generations to come, please visit opportunityschool.com for more information about leaving a legacy. An investment in our children is an investment in the future of our community.
In Amarillo ISD, the word “More,” and the confident optimism it promises, is becoming our identity. Here, more means exclusive opportunities to do more and experience more. It means more training and more resources, empowering students to achieve more and elevating them into champions. More means more support and better outcomes, so our students—no matter who they are, where they come from or what unique gifts they have or challenges they may face—take it all in and leave here capable of so much more.
Hear from those students who have been built up by more, by the people, places and programs not available anywhere else for miles and miles.
In AISD, bigger means more. Our size is our superpower.
“I thought getting recruited to play in college was pretty difficult,” says 2023 Amarillo High School graduate Eleanor Archer, who earned herself a spot on the women’s tennis team at Washington University in St. Louis. With four state gold medals, Archer is AISD’s most decorated tennis player ever. She acknowledges one advantage from her time in high school that might have given her an edge in the recruitment circuit. “I’ve learned to play as part of a team. A lot of colleges look for good team players, not just individuals.”
As a sophomore, Archer spent some time with AISD’s athletic trainers rehabbing a shoulder injury. The District has the most robust sports medicine program in the area. “Even today, I still do the exercises they showed me,” says Archer. The experience inspired her to want to become an orthopedic surgeon. “I want to be able to help other athletes like that.”
Luxuries like a dynamic sports medicine program contribute
significantly to AISD’s ability to develop and support high school
The fierce 5A competition, plus the important advantages a school district this size can provide, are a formula for elite success. “What it comes down to is we have the coaches who are dedicated experts in their sport, we have the training component with weights and speed, we have the medical support with athletic trainers and team doctors, we have the built-in competition from big schools, and you put it all together and we’re producing those kinds of athletes,” says Hefley.
Dance turned out to be a real gem for 2023 Palo Duro High School graduate Emerald Htee Wah Naing, giving her the confidence to dream bigger and take big steps toward making those dreams come true. School dance programs aren’t offered anywhere else in the Panhandle, and with each year, AISD’s program grows in size and variety. At Amarillo High, for example, this fall students will be able to enroll in yoga for PE or fine arts credit.
As a member of Palo Duro’s dance team, the Don Diamond Dancers, Naing was inspired to step out of her comfort zone outside of the dance studio, as well. Through her classes at AISD’s AmTech Career Academy, Naing earned a collection of industry certifications including 911 Dispatch, Private Security Level 2, CPR, and FEMA.
A confident Naing is taking those skills now to Amarillo College as a Presidential Scholar. She chose AC because of the Thrive Scholarship, which provides a full ride exclusively for AISD graduates. “Definitely life-changing,” she says of the experience. “There are so many different opportunities. You never know what’s going to be headed your way. Don’t be scared.”
DO MORE WITH EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITIES:
• ORCHESTRA BEGINNING IN 5TH GRADE
• DANCE
• SWIM
• JROTC
• AMTECH
• ADVANCED ACADEMICS INCLUDING UT ONRAMPS
• SPECIALIZE DIPLOMAS LIKE IB AND AP CAPSTONE
• THRIVE SCHOLARSHIP
AISD offers exclusive opportunities no one else can which means our students are doing things no one else is.
AMARILLO ISD
