ITA instructor Shawn Hudson, ITA Director Kelly Shotwell, CTA-Instructor Christie Hart, and CTA-IT student Alaina Cash
SVHEC staff received honors at the Southern Piedmont Technology Council’s Awards Banquet. The banquet was held in Danville at the Institute for Advanced Learning & Research and featured guest speaker retired Major General Roosevelt “Ted” Mercer, executive director of Virginia’s Spaceport Authority. Following his engaging speech, members of the SPTC Council presented the evening’s awards.
The IT Academy was awarded the Innovation in Education, Government, or Community Outreach Award. The ITA team used in-house software development and cloud administration skills to stand-up virtual lab environments for ITA courses. ITA instructor and Full-Stack Developer Jacob Cook designed and implemented a custom web app to manage student virtual machines. The team’s innovation and teamwork provided a significant cost-savings and improved learning experience for the students.
CTA-IT instructor Christie Hart was awarded the Rising Star Award for her efforts in launching the Women in Technology (W.I.T) Club. This club provides networking, support, and mentoring to young women in Southern Virginia who are interested in pursuing a career in Science, Engineering, Technology, Art, and Math (STEAM). Women are historically underrepresented in STEM fields, and it can be especially hard for rural students to find examples and mentors for their chosen career. The WIT club provides young women with these mentors, and a space to connect with like-minded individuals on a similar path. Club mentors (many of whom are SVHEC staff volunteers) work with members to provide support, guidance, and resources for their career journeys.