Miami Lakes Educational Center Receives Highest Honor for Career Academies in The Nation

MIAMI, Florida - Miami Lakes Educational Center- Academy of Information Technology (AOIT) was awarded the Sanford I. Weill Award for Excellence at the NAF NEXT CONFERENCE held this week in Detroit.

M-DCPS holds the honor of having the most Sandy Weill winners since the award’s inception in 2013.

The selection of a national recipient is a rigorous process that includes an analysis of academy data such as assessment scores, work-based learning and public-private partnerships for students.

The AOIT has achieved Distinguished quality level for the third time this spring.  Students complete a capstone project that summarizes their classroom learning and applies solutions to real-world issues in technology.

“The Sanford I. Weill Award for Excellence exemplifies the commitment, quality and work ethic of our AOIT students as well as our career pathway teachers,” said Marlon Vernon, AOIT Lead Teacher, MLEC. “The outstanding successes of our current students and alumni in internships, college and the workforce are a result of our rigorous real-world capstone process backed by dedicated industry partnerships in various work-based learning initiatives.”

The award was established in honor of Mr. Weill, a Wall Street legend and global philanthropist who founded NAF in 1982 and the organization has grown to over 500 academies in 39 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The NAF model provides young people access to industry-specific curricula, work-based learning experiences, and relationships with business professionals.