Alisa West, a graduate of Moore Norman Technology Center, recently received the Outstanding Graduate award from the Oklahoma Career and Technical Education Equity Council.
West was one of 15 Oklahomans honored, along with three businesses and organizations, at the 30th annual Making It Work Day at the Capitol on March 6.
Making It Work Day recognizes individuals who are committed to removing barriers to success for single-parent families by providing educational experiences for students beyond the classroom. The ceremony, which was held at The Credit Union House of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, also recognized nontraditional students.
When West started Moore Norman’s HIRE program in March 2022, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, said Matt Fix, HIRE coordinator, who nominated her for the award.
“She really enjoyed working with computers, so I introduced her to the MNTC instructor of the cloud and virtual network administration program,” Fix said. “After some more discussions, we enrolled her to start that program in August of 2022. She worked hard all year even when she had health issues and struggles with completing her program. She maintained a positive attitude throughout the program and was a joy to work with.”
West graduated in May 2023 and completed an internship with Love’s Travel Stop before getting a job offer from Love’s and then competing job offers with Love’s and Oklahoma County offices, Fix said. She accepted a job as a systems engineer in the Oklahoma County information technology department.
“She’s the best example of what TANF programs do and how we can help people achieve their goals,” Fix said.
OkCTEEC is affiliated with the administrative division of the Oklahoma Association of Career and Technology Education. The council advocates for students pursuing nontraditional careers and for resources for educating single parents.
“Making It Work Day is one of my favorite award ceremonies, as it allows for those graduates, community partners and instructors who have excelled to be recognized for their hard work,” said KayTee Niquette, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families coordinator at Oklahoma CareerTech. “It is an event that is traditionally held at Oklahoma’s state Capitol, but regardless of location, our awardees are allowed to shine.
“Listening to the stories of many who accept their awards is nothing but inspirational, and OkCTEEC is very excited to host this event once again, so that special projects programs with both the Oklahoma Department of Career and Education Technology and Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education might be highlighted.”
She serves as an adviser for OkCTEEC, along with Jennifer Bielli of Oklahoma Human Services and Gina McPherson of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
“On behalf of OkCTEEC we are very excited to celebrate another year of Making It Work Day,” said Robin Shambaugh, OkCTEEC president and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Journey 2 Success Delaware County coordinator. “It is our privilege to honor and recognize our outstanding graduates, instructors and business and industry partners along with our community and agency partners across the state of Oklahoma. We would like to congratulate our students and partners for their determination, hard work and dedication this year.”
OkCTEEC’s purposes include promoting and supporting career and technology education, increasing its effectiveness, promoting research in the field and in educational equity, developing leadership and advocating for equity and diversity.
For more information about OkCTEEC, visit https://www.cteec.org/okcteec. For more information about the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, visit www.okcareertech.org.
