Posted May 22, 2019
Sometimes high school graduation speeches go off-script, and when that happened this year at Pima JTED’s Program Completion Ceremony, the speaker, Bill Westcott, Executive Director of Potoff Private Philanthropy received a standing ovation. The plan was for him to announce a pledge of $350,000 from local philanthropist Ross Potoff to benefit the Pima JTED Foundation, instead, the gift will be $1 million.
“I’ve never seen a gift of this magnitude to benefit a K-12 public school in my 33 years as an educator, this is absolutely wonderful,” says Brenda Marietti, Pima JTED Foundation President. “This gift will provide a tremendous boost to Pima JTED’s ability to provide students with the advancing technology they’ll need in the classroom to be successful in the workforce.”
Career and Technical Education transformed Ross Potoff’s life when he was teenager living in Connecticut. He credits that education to giving him both the skills and confidence to become a highly accomplished research specialist at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences. Recently retired, he now wants to make sure young people have the same opportunities to pursue a successful and rewarding career like the one he enjoyed for 40 years.
The gift could not come at a more perfect time, Pima JTED is building a new 50,000 square foot building to offer programs such as 3D Animation and Game Design, Robotics, Automation, Mechatronics, and Health Care programs including Licensed Nursing Assistant and Registered Medical Assistant. Pima JTED’s long term plans include adding two additional buildings of the same size to the Innovative Learning Campus.
A ground breaking ceremony is planned for the new Pima JTED building:
- Thursday, May 30, 2019
- 9 a.m.
- JTED @ The Bridges Innovative Learning Center
- 3300 S. Park Ave.