| iTECH'S 2010 - 11 School Theme | ||
| Getting It Right is iTECH's theme for the 2010-2011 school year. Florida's newest technical school represents a new hope to this region of Southwest Florida. |
| Heavy Equipment Mechanics | ||
iTECH's newest program is called Heavy Equipment Mechanics. We are looking for the first 15 adult students to sign up and begin classes in August of 2010. Space will not last call iTECH today!
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| Coming Soon | ||
| Additional info. |
| Coming Soon | ||
| Additional info. |
| Coming Soon | ||
| Additional info. |
| COE Accreditation | ||
| The Immokalee Technical Center is accredited with Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI). |
| Get Started Today | ||
| If your not a part of one of iTECH's exciting programs, don't wait, get started today on your new career path! |
| Open for Business | ||
| Our restaurant and cafe are open daily. Pizza, burgers and others tasty specials. |
| Coming Soon | ||
| Additional info. |
| Coming Soon | ||
| Additional info. |
March 1, 2013
COMMUNITY EDUCATION
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June 23, 2012
John Moon, left, of iTECH Immokalee Technical Center, assists student Joe Flores during the foundations of machining class in Immokalee. / Brian Hirten/news-press.com
Training: Course Teaches tech skills
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iSalon Presents FASHION IN TIME
Hair fashion in the height of it's popularity and their styles.
First show time 12:30pm
Second show time 6:30pm
Tuesday December 13th, 2011 at Immokalee Technical Center
508 North 9th Street ( Conference Room)
For more information please call: 239.377.1948
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NEWS RELEASE
" iTech Practical Nursing Graduates get Pinned"
November 14, 2011- An exciting event is coming to Immokalee this week. Immokalee Technical Center (iTech) will hold a graduation and pinning ceremony for the third Practical Nursing class to have started and completed their entire nursing program at the school. A total of 19 graduate practical nurses will take part in the commencement ceremony beginning at 6:00 P.M., this Thursday ( November 17 ) in the iTech conference center located at 508 North 9th Street, in Immokalee.
The students began their journey at iTech on September 6, 2010. Their 1,350 hours of post-secondary education has included studying pharmacology, nutrition, mental health, anatomy and physiology, and the nursing care of children and adults. In addition to iTech, the graduate nurses have learned at numerous hospitals and health clinics throughout Southwest Florida.
The graduates are grateful for local funding agencies and contributers for their support. After celebrating this Thursday, the graduates will work on becoming licensed practical nurses which is accomplished by successfully passing the National Council Licensure Examination ( NCLEX-PN ). The 19 practical nurse graduates are:
Velora Bishop
Candice Brown
Marinela Campos
Jessica Caseres
Robert Charles
Beatriz Concepcion
Reyna Escobedo
Amber Flint
Joaquina Ochoa
Anquiette Goree
Phillip Holda
Angela Martinez
Statoka Mays
Joel Murray
Adalberto Pereira
Senise
Petit Bien
Marie Polydor
Modeline Celestine Rene
Jania Thompson
To learn more, please call iTech's Director of Health Science, Johnna Dettis at
239-377-4531.
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iTECH News
Governor Rick Scott Visits The Heavy Equipment Mechanics Program Here At iTech
October 14, 2011 - Governor Rick Scott visits and talks with students in the heavy equipment mechanics program at the Immokalee Technical Center on Friday morning. After talking with students working in the classroom, Scott outlined his seven initiative "2012 job creation and economic growth agenda," to students, teachers, school district officials and the press.
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“EDISON COLLEGE OPENS AT iTECH COLLEGIATE CENTER”
8/12/09 A new and exciting partnership between Edison State College and Immokalee Technical Center (iTECH) begins on Monday, August 24. The iTECH Collegiate Center opens its doors to students and will offer college courses that lead to associate and bachelor degrees from Edison State College. Classes are a semester in length, worth three credit hours, and include Introduction to Business, College Success Skills, Composition I, and General Psychology I. Each course will be held from 6-8:40 pm, once a week, Monday through Thursday.
But this is just the beginning! Future plans include more class offerings, meaning that Immokalee High School students and community members may one day complete entire programs in their own backyard. Edison State College Associate Dean of Student Affairs Christine Davis is “excited about serving the expanding needs of the Immokalee community with Edison classes available at the new iTECH campus.” iTECH Principal Dorin Oxender is also pleased to bring Edison State College to the iTECH campus: “This partnership gives Immokalee students choices we’ve only dreamed about until now. Every student has multiple career options. The future is within reach.”
The current classes are free to high school students who wish to dual enroll, but students should speak with their high school counselors prior to enrolling. Adults will pay registration and tuition as set by Edison State College and should contact Christine Davis at 732-3953 to learn more.
iTECH continues to offer students high skill programs that lead to jobs. Check out this center for education by calling 658-7080 today.
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“DOCUMENTARY FILM SHOWN AT iTECH”
As a part of National Farmworker Awareness Week, the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs announces the screening of the documentary, Children in the Fields. The free screening will begin at 6 pm on Thursday, April 2 and will be shown in the Conference Center of the Immokalee Technical Center (iTECH) located at 508 North 9th Street, in Immokalee. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Coalition of Florida Farmworker Organizations (COFFO) joins with the Farmworker Jobs and Education Program (FJEP) in celebrating this event with the community.
Children in the Fields is a short documentary about the hidden problem of migrant children working in U.S. agriculture today. Filmed in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Texas, Children in the Fields illustrates the plight of a population of American children who, due to unfair child labor laws and their families’ poverty, work to help make ends meet.
Following the documentary, a discussion will be held for those interested. Drinks and snacks will be available.
To learn more, please contact Diane Christianson at 377-9906.
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Delia Lozano is helping to shape young lives by providing them with the tools to enter a great new profession.
Photo / Immokalee Bulletin / Patty Brant
iTECH Grows, More Classes Offered
Immokalee Bulletin / Patty Brant
2/19/2009 - With the official opening of iTECH recently, the center continues to expand its educational reach.
Curricula already operating at the center include the child care center, auto shop, culinary arts and cosmetology.
At this time, Chef Christopher Abdo has three classes with a total of 102 students under his wing. Their classroom includes state- of-the-art equipment like a walk-in refrigerator/freezer and wood burning oven that reaches temperatures of 1,000 degrees.
Chef Christopher Abdo has been
teaching the class for fi ve years at Immokalee High School. He has worked as a chef in California, the Keys, on a private island and even cooked for people like Oprah Winfrey and Jeb Bush.
He said it prepares students for a job in a restaurant or hotel. Graduates will immediately be employable to work on a hot line or at all kitchen stations, he said.
From his class students have gone on to other culinary arts programs and one has even returned as the restaurant manager at iTECH. Former student Simon Salinas graduated in 2007. After working for a storm window company, he got the opportunity to come to iTECH. He said he likes working around food and with the student.
Students man the Cruising Cafe, loaded with delectable lunch favorites like sandwiches, pizza and salads. The restaurant should be open soon with an expanded menu. Culinary arts student Fidel Herrera said he wants to head to the big city when he graduates. He said he enjoys the hands- on, whole experience at iTECH.
Claudia Alusma said she hopes to become a caterer in Chicago. For Samuel Saez, the goal is to some day own his own restaurant. 
The complex includes three banquet rooms that can be combined into one giant one with a total seating capacity of just under 500.
Veronica Martinez is a preK assistant caring for four toddlers, aged 2-3 years. She worked as a substitute for two years for the school district. The child care portion also cares for 13 VPK 5-6 year olds.
In addition to child care, students acquire the financial skills necessary to run a day care, too, and computers assist in earning the Early Childhood Professional Certifi cate, good throughout the State of Florida.
iTECH will even have its own hair salon. Instructor Delia Lozano owns DL Salon with her brother, but has come to iTECH to “give back as much as possible” to the community. She said her students are currently working on staff and other students, perfecting their style, shampoo and sets. Soon the salon will be open to the public.
The class also includes learning to make appointments and customer service. There are 18 students in her class - evenly divided between males and females. Said Delia, “ They are very talented in cosmetology and do it all including nails.” She added that she has seen a big rise in their self esteem since they began the class.
The auto shop students are learning about brakes now. When they’re ready the school will advertise brake work to the public, supervised by certifi ed mechanics instructors, of course.
There are also carpentry, plumber and masonry classes coming to iTECH soon with health care and remedial classes also available.
Diane Christianson of the Farmworker Jobs and Education Program said the program is currently assisting 170 students, 30 of them at iTECH. There are 200 high school students on campus.
She is very knowlegable about the facility. Each discipline provides an overall immersing experience.
The center includes storefronts along Ninth Street where students will provide services to the general public.
All classes have office space with computers where students become thoroughly acquainted with the “business” side of that business. New classes are coming up in March, but anyone interested should register now for financial aid to be ready when classes begin.
According to Ms. Christianson, iTECH provides a “quality technical education for those who can succeed.”
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"STUDENTS FIRST"
Column for the Immokalee Bulletin / 2/26/09 / Joe Landonn / CCPS
The School Board Meeting, held at the Immokalee Technical Center (iTECH) a week ago today featured the official dedication of the new iTECH building. It was an awesome ceremony which included a “Tellin’ Stories Family Quilt” presentation conducted by Kristin Millet, Federal Resource Specialist. Several parents told their stories which are represented on the community quilt. 
Three of the parents came here from Mexico, another from Guatemala, and yet another from Port de Prince, Haiti. They told of their journey and family traditions. Colors told the story – red, white and blue in the American flag, the green, red and white of the Mexican flag. One parent includes both nation’s flags as well as the sun and the moon to represent the union of the two showing where her children were born and where they live today. If you’d like to see this beautiful quilt, it’ll remain on display in the iTECH reception area.
The School Board meeting in Immokalee also featured the Board’s recognition of the generous support given to our Immokalee schools, teachers and students by the Lastinger Center for Learning at the University of Florida, and its director Don Pemberton. The Center’s Teacher Leadership for School Improvement Program has been providing Immokalee teachers with tuition assistance and the chance to earn a master’s or specialist degree from the University of Florida. The goal of the program: to recruit, retain and develop “master teachers” for our Immokalee schools. Last year the program graduated seven teachers with specialist degrees, and 13 with master’s degrees. Another 19 are expected to get their degrees in 2011. Village Oaks Elementary School teacher Kathy 
Christensen tells us that this program has had a greater impact on her, and her colleagues, than anything she’s experienced in her 29 years of teaching. “The course work is job - embedded; therefore the benefits of teacher learning are immediately passed on to students.” Now that’s a good thing! There’s a bonus for about 100 Immokalee teachers who become engaged in what’s called an “inquiry-based professional development project.” The teachers take a good hard look at their practices, what they do in their classrooms each and every day. They then share the results of what they learn during a special expo event held in Immokalee in the spring of that year. And we have the Lastinger Center, and Don Pemberton, to thank for all of this.
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From Fields to Legal Field, Immokalee Technical Center has its First Graduate
By KATHERINE ALBERS / Naples Daily News
Originally published 4:31 p.m., Saturday, February 14, 2009
Updated 4:31 p.m., Saturday, February 14, 2009
IMMOKALEE — When Elisette Bruno talks about the pride she has from earning her degree, she talks about wanting to be a good role model to her children, ages 10, 7 and 5.
“I didn’t want my kids to think, ‘Well, mom didn’t do it, so I don’t have to,’” she said.
Bruno, 26, is the first graduate of the Immokalee Technical Center, the career education center in Immokalee that opened about a month ago. She received her degree as a legal administrative specialist.
“It feels great,” she said. “I am really proud.”
But the road to her degree was a long one. The child of migrant workers, Bruno dropped out of school at 15, when she became pregnant with her first child. She tried to get her GED several times, but didn’t have anyone to care for her children while she was at school.
Then Bruno found the Even Start program, a literacy program geared toward families. A family qualifies if the mother or father wants to receive adult education, such as learning English or receiving a GED, and the same parent has a child or children who can be placed in the school readiness program, said Susan Sherrod, the program director for Even Start in Immokalee.
Sherrod said the program combines four components: Adult education, early childhood education, parental training and interactive literacy activities between parents and children.
“The program is wonderful because it allows a mother to go to school and get education while not having to worry about what she is going to do as far as care for her child,” Sherrod said. “It’s the motivational piece. ... We are very proud of Elisette. She is one of our great success stories.”
Bruno said the Even Start program is the reason she has her GED today. The program’s selling point was that she could bring her youngest child with her to school.
“I would still be trying because my daughter is just now in kindergarten,” she said.
Still, she admits, it was a struggle with a family at home to care for.
“You have to go through school like it is a recipe,” she said. “You have to have faith in yourself and a staff that treats you like you are somebody. You have to have the financial piece. It is like a big recipe.”
After receiving her degree in December 2007, Bruno said she was encouraged to continue her education by the staff at Bethune, which housed the career education programs in Immokalee before iTECH opened last month.
“They told me that I should stay for my daughter so that she could stay in the prekindergarten program. And I knew it was a good place for my daughter to be,” she said. “So I started to take classes and I loved it.”
Barbara Jacobson, one of Bruno’s instructors at iTECH, called Bruno “an amazing young woman.”
“She is an amazing student. She was always here. She worked hard,” she said.
The program is set up, Jacobson said, so that as soon as a student can demonstrate competency in all areas of their certificate, they graduate.
Bruno said she almost finished her degree work in December, but decided it was better to take her time and go one more month.
“I am glad I did. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have this privilege,” she said.
Bruno said she knows what a privilege her degree is. Her parents, who worked in the fields for many years, both dropped out of school before they reached seventh grade. She remembers the migrant life, being pulled from school before the year was over because the family had to move on and the work in the fields.
She said she wanted to break that chain. Although she has done it, she doesn’t consider her career complete. She said she would like to go back to school to become a crime scene investigator. She has applied to Edison State College and hopes to enroll in classes in the fall.
“I think if I stop, I won’t continue,” she said. “While I am on a roll, I might as well keep going.”
Bruno also can help iTECH boast that 100 percent of its graduates have jobs. In January, shortly before she graduated, she took a job at iTECH, where she works in student services.
“I struggled for a long time. This is the first great and steady job I have had,” she said.
Even though the job isn’t in the legal area, Bruno said she is applying her skills at her new job.
Still, in that time before she graduated, Bruno was going to work at 7 a.m. for an hour, going to class from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and working from 2 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. She took just enough time to pick up her children from Lake Trafford Elementary School and bring them back to iTECH for her mother to come and get them to take them home until Bruno left work.
“It was well worth it. If it wasn’t for my mother, I don’t know what I would have done,” she said.
Bruno said her entire experience has taught her that education is important.
“Without education, you are nothing,” she said. “You can’t live on $6.50 anymore. You need your degree.”
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AUTO TECH - 1/29/2009
The Immokalee Technical Center, or iTech, opened it's doors on Jan. 6, providing 90,000 square feet of learning facilities for disciplines like cosmetology, automotive, construction, nursing and culinary technologies. Each of the disciplines will have an iStore front where students will service customers from the community.
Naplesnews.com / Michel Fortier/Staff
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School District Holds Meeting to Discuss
Immokalee Technical Center
Article by Katherine Lewis from the 5/9/07 of the Naples Daily News
When Dorin Oxender came to Immokalee as a career education teacher in 1995, he had a dream. Tuesday night, he told a small group of Immokalee High School Advisory Council members that his dream was closer to coming true.
Read more
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74 Bethune Grads Move On
Article by Rhonda Murphy from the 4/5/07 Immokalee Bulletin
Friday evening, March 30, was a night of honor for 74 students....
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Career Center Could be National Model
Article by Patty Brant from the 11/26/06 Immokalee Bulletin
It has been said that Immokalee is the heart of Collier County's future workforce. If that's true, the Collier County School District is in the midst of planning a large part of that future with an innovative education center.....
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There are Great Plans in Place
Article from the 2/22/07 Students First column
of the Immokalee Bulletin
There are great plans in place for the future of your community, including plans in the all-important career education arena....
Read More
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