VLK Architects Break Ground on Arlington ISD's Career and Technical Center

On April 7th, VLK Architects attended the ground breaking ceremony forArlington ISD's new Career and Technical Center (CTC). The new CTC is a product of AISD's approved 2014 bond plan, which encompasses projects around the district and VLK was selectedto design the new $46 million dollar facility which is set to open in the Summer of 2017.

"What an exciting day for us all," said Jamie Sullins, AISD Board of Trustees President. "It tooka lot of work from everyone here. It wasn't the eight of us, but all of us, and moving forward we aregoing to have to make sure that we keep this building not only surviving, but thriving, leading,and setting anexample for Career Tech education not just in the state, but the nation." Superintendent, Dr. Marcel Cavazos spoke about how this new facility is a highly anticipateddream come true.

"Today is a special day in Arlington ISD because we know that today is the beginning of greatopportunities for our young people and for our community. When we designed this facility andconceptualized this Career Tech Center, it wasn't just from one day to the next, in fact, as somepeople who have beenin our community for a long time know, this has been something that hasbeen a pursuit of Arlington ISD for many years," said Cavazos. "We often say that a bondproject has a lot to do with facilities, but if you look a little deeper, it has to do with helpingstudents be successful. We often say in ourschool district that our task is to help kids dream big. But today, it's even more important. We try to demonstrate that every day in Arlington ISD."

The new 169,800 sf CTC building will provide courses and internships gearedtowards high school students that have the desire to pursue careers in different technical, medicaland broadcasting fields.

"The students that come through AISD's Career and Technical Center will be transformed because of the opportunities that they are obtaining," said Cavazos. "We know that education is the great equalizer and that in order to break cycles of poverty, and social injustice, it's through aquality education. In Arlington, not only are we going to provide a quality education, we are going to accomplish it in facilities as great as our new Career Tech Center."