The Advanced Technology Academy (ATA) recently celebrated 25 years of higher education and innovation as a multi-faceted and interdisciplinary charter school. In late August of this year a week-long celebration culminated with a presentation at the Michael A. Guido Theater in the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center honoring the legacy, mission and future of the Dearborn-based school.
Held during faculty and staff in-service week, educators, alumni, business leaders and institutional partners gave testament, reflected on and paid tribute to ATA’s journey, thus far, and its impact on the community, its student population, the future work force and higher education and learning.
According to their official documentation, the ATA mission statement is “to provide students with high quality interdisciplinary learning experiences that challenge them academically and develop their problem-solving, critical thinking and communication skills. By building strong local partnerships with business and higher education, Advanced Technology Academy and the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (PAS) Business Education Advisory Council encourage and prepare students for success in college and professional careers in fields such as business, engineering and technology.”
Advanced Technology Academy is an early/middle college charter public school that came out of a concept birthed in the late ‘90s, when a coalition of school-to-work leaders, Ford Motor Company executives and total quality leaders from American auto suppliers convened to address Michigan’s growing workforce development needs in the automotive sector.
As Ford and the automotive industry were advancing in increased product lines and technological areas the need for a skilled technologically savvy workforce was in demand as well. Despite widespread downsizing across the industry, more than 8,700 unfilled positions remained that required competency in data analysis, mathematics and computer literacy.
Enter ATA Executive Director Barry Hawthorne who was there to meet the moment. With a background that included Deputy Director of Labor for Michigan Governor William Milliken and state and federal job training for the Wayne County Private Industry Corporation, Hawthorne was on the cusp of this new and innovative movement in higher education.
“That’s where I got my background in employment and training,” said Hawthorne. “I was on more of the regulatory than job training side. At the time we were retraining workers because of the skills that they didn’t have for the new technology that was emerging. And then that led to getting involved with a group of auto suppliers. We set up school-to-work programs and I worked for the Ford Motor Company Supplier Institute, which then became the American Supplier Institute.”
This was a pivotal point in time when the United States was facing challenges raising quality standards in the automobile industry and trying to upgrade a skilled workforce that could compete in the evolving global economy.
Working with Ford Motor Company and others, Hawthorne was instrumental in getting people trained for new technologies through the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. But, right around this same time, Michigan Gov. John Engler was elected and eliminated adult education. However, he did set up two things—Michigan Technology Education Centers throughout the state at the junior college level, and charter public schools.
By way of the governor’s office, Hawthorne took the initiative to take advantage of this new approach to alternative education and studied the concept of charter schools and how to set up a charter school curriculum.
Fast forward to the early 2000s where Hawthorne, via many proposals through campuses from Grand Rapids Community College to Lake Superior State University, finally settled in Southfield on the campus of Lawrence Tech University.
“We started on the campus of Lawrence Tech University as a charter public school merging the last two years of high school with the first two years of college,” says Hawthorne. “And because it is a charter school that has statewide jurisdiction, we can recruit from everybody. Because charter schools are not to compete with public schools, they are to provide choice. We can specialize in certain areas of education. We specialize in the advanced. The school was originally called ‘Applied Technology,’ but we changed it to the Advanced Technology Academy based on the curriculum we had going at Lawrence Tech.”
Since 2007-08 ATA’s campus has been located in East Dearborn on Oakman Avenue in the two adjacent buildings previously housed by Davenport University and, before that, Detroit College of Business. While ATA began with a focus on high school and the merging of college courses, they expanded to kindergarten through 8th grade in 2005.The campus provides a beautiful state-of-the-art environment for students to learn and thrive in a safe and enriched setting.
ATA’s “Innovation in Action” consists of a comprehensive technological program that prepares students for the workforce via various disciplines and areas of study. Through partnerships with multiple businesses, community support and Lake Superior State University, Davenport University, Eastern Michigan University, Henry Ford College and The University of Michigan-Dearborn, ATA offers top tier educational opportunities, a comprehensive curriculum and hands-on experience.
The Academy houses a $250,000 AMTEC manufacturing plant simulator that places the student on the factory floor in a real world lab environment. There are 22 Amatrol training stations covering AC/DC electrical systems, electric motor control, AC electronic drives, power and control electronics, CNC machining, virtual welding, pneumatics and hydraulics and mechanical drive systems.
ATA also offers students access to seven ESSER– funded ACT WorkKeys and virtual reality labs that focus on applied math, graphic literacy, workplace technology, thermodynamics and business writing.
But as Advanced Technology Academy has grown in size and stature, its mission and commitment to student needs and goals has evolved as well. ATA is committed to advancing Michigan’s workforce in a myriad of practical areas. The new medical labs, in conjunction with Henry Ford Health Systems, provide training and degrees in sports medicine, patient care, medical assistance, X-ray technology and EMT certification. And their business programs prepare students for careers in entrepreneurship, accounting and human resources.
ATA is one of Michigan’s progressive high schools offering an Early/Middle College Program combined with dual enrollment for high school aged students. This five-year high school and college initiative enables all students to earn up to 60 college credits, an associate degree or an industry-recognized training certificate. And they are an equal opportunity academy open to all residents in the state of Michigan, with no cost to families.
Another aspect that is a huge advantage to attending ATA is their “Learn4Ward” program. This is a partnership between Henry Ford College and top universities in the region, such as Davenport, Wayne State, U of M-Dearborn, Eastern Michigan, etc. This takes the guesswork out of the transfer process. “Learn4Ward” allows students to begin their academic and career pathway at HFC and seamlessly transfer to their university of choice, while earning both an Associate and Bachelor’s degree within 4-6 years. Throughout this process students of ATA will receive the finest in resources and advising on their scholastic needs and direction.
“The key is to be able to develop,” says Hawthorne regarding ATA’s mission and message to potential parents and students. “We’ve got to tell our story to the parents. I tell them about the ‘Learn4Ward’ program and they get it. We put together a presentation that shows the actual tuition for, say, Wayne State University. But if you attend ATA all those extra tuition expenses go away. We try to explain that to parents because the schools keep trying to get people on state aid and get them on different grants and stuff. But we’re saying we can offer you an alternative. It’s revolutionary, what we’re doing. And if we can help our poor people who are economically disadvantaged into high-wage jobs, then that’s what it’s all about. You want to break the cycle of poverty.”
For more information on Advanced Technology Academy please go to www.atafordpas.org or call 313-625-4700.
