An Academic Pathway to Success Los Angeles Trade-Technical College Prepares Students for the Future
T
he word “icon” means something that is universally admired. Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, with its rich history, unmatched career-technical programs and service to the Downtown community, certainly deserves the description as an icon of Los Angeles. The campus has been located in Downtown for 86 years, watching and contributing to the growth of the city. The vision of the college’s founder, Frank Wiggins, hasn’t changed much. Trade Tech still seeks to provide accessible and affordable vocational training in more than 60 trade programs, and because it is a public community college, it can provide the best educational value around. For those interested in pursuing a four-year university degree, it also provides an academic transfer pathway. But what gives Trade Tech its icon status? One reason is the innovative curriculum. The college prides itself on providing training that exceeds industry standards, incorporates technology and appropriately prepares students to be part of the future workforce. The school has crafted its courses to include emerging technologies such as weatherization, bio-fuels and solar, so that students have skills that will lead to careers in a truly global marketplace. And of course, it has embraced the tradition of vocational training. Programs like culinary arts, the oldest such program in the state, continues to provide training that propels graduates into restaurants and hotels throughout Southern California. A former culinary arts graduate was a finalist for a new show on the Oprah network. The fashion department, the very first discipline offered at the college, is considered one of the best community college programs in the field, and draws students from all over the world. Students frequently compete with peers from private colleges and
institutes, and routinely win awards for design and merchandising. Former students have gone on to win “Project Runway” and a T-shirt design competition for Fashion Night Out. The cosmetology department boasts back-to-back national champions in the Junior Style Stars hair competition. The campus itself is undergoing sweeping changes, with construction of new South Campus student services and technology buildings, a newly-renovated library, a new nursing and cosmetology building and plans for a state-of-the-art construction technology building on Grand Avenue. Trade Tech is clearly an icon of Downtown Los Angeles. It has trained students who have raised the city’s infrastructure, improved its commerce and touched its soul. For more information about Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, visit lattc.edu.
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