ST. PHILIP’S COLLEGE WILL AWARD DEGREES IN NEW HIGH-TECH, HIGH-WAGE ACADEMY

Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology academy to be based at Sam Houston High

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS  (May 30, 2008) --- St. Philip’s College begins teaching high school juniors and seniors in a new Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology academy at Sam Houston High School, said SPC President Dr. Adena Williams Loston during a press conference at the high school May 30.

As the new Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology academy graduates students, those graduates will come away with a college diploma and money from experience in high-tech, high-paying fields.

“St. Philip’s College is right here in the community,” said SPC President Dr. Adena Williams Loston. “We have every expectation that when students graduate, we would award the two-year degree from St. Philip’s College,” said Dr. Loston.

Joining the college in this San Antonio Independent School District-led initiative are the Alamo Community Colleges, the Alamo Area Academies, Project Lead the Way, the National Academies Foundation, and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. These scientific workforce training partnerships and the details behind them were announced at a press conference at the high school May 30.

Pope helped the families of the new recruits fill out financial aid forms during the meeting in Gonzalez. New students are glad they got in to college on the ground floor of this Student Life recruiting initiative.

“When I attended one of the Alamo Area academies I was the only student in my high school class with my own apartment and vacation plan. It was sweet,” said a Chromalloy employee who delivered a testimonial about student life at one of the academies.

  “This program is going to be good for San Antonio,” said Chromalloy Power Services Corp. human resources manager Steven Valdez, himself an SPC graduate. Chromalloy has supported all of the Alamo Area Academies with internship opportunities in the last five years, and has 18 Academy interns coming in in 2008, Valdez said.

Under the new program, students will receive dual credit opportunities that can be applied toward an Associate’s Degree, summer internships, and certifications to enter the workforce prepared to land those coveted high-skill, high-wage positions. The 2006 average yearly salary of manufacturing employees was $41,496, 13% above the San Antonio average, according to the San Antonio Manufacturers Association.

CAPTION (Image by Melissa Vasquez): At a press conference at Sam Houston High School May 30, it was announced that St. Philip’s College begins teaching high school juniors and seniors in a new Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology academy at Sam Houston High School. Among the distinguished guests in attendance for the scientific workforce training partnership announcement were (from right) SPC President Dr. Adena Williams Loston; Alamo Community College District Board of Trustees Chairperson Roberto Zárate; Bexar County Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Adkisson (standing at rear) ; and Community College District Chancellor Dr. Bruce H. Leslie (foreground left). Photo

 

About St. Philip’s: St. Philip’s College was founded in 1898 by Bishop James Steptoe Johnston of St. Philip's Episcopal Church of the West Texas Diocese. Today, St. Philip's is a multi-campus institution of the Alamo Community Colleges and serves a semester enrollment of nearly 10,000 credit and more than 5,000 continuing education students. St. Philip's is a Historically Black College and Hispanic Serving Institution and is the only college in the nation that carries this dual designation. As "A Point of Pride in the Community", St. Philip's is among the oldest and most diverse community colleges in the United States.