On Tuesday, August 5, the Washoe County School District celebrated the opening of the Debbie Smith CTE Academy.
The new academy will be home to nine Career and Technical Education academies. High school students in Washoe County will have the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning in a variety of fields. Programs range from nursing to the construction trade and will allow students to earn college-credits along the way.
Another building will house the RISE Academy for Adult Achievement. This will help adults in Washoe County complete their high school diploma or prepare for their GED exam. The RISE Academy will also offer English language learning classes.
Debbie Smith CTE is located on what was once Hug High School. According to the Washoe County School District, the transformation took over 700,000 hours of work. And no one put in more hours than project manager Santos Oriana. For the past three years, the construction site has been his home.
“I grew up in this neighborhood,” Oriana said. “I went to Hug High School back in the mid 80s, and coming back to do this project has been a special moment.”
The academy is named after the late State Senator Debbie Smith, making it the first high school in Washoe County to be named after a woman. While in office, she fought to secure funding to renovate aging schools. The funding has helped the school district build, rebuild and expand 12 schools over the past nine years.
She didn’t live to see the legislation pass, but her legacy lives in the school named after her.
Debbie’s widower, Greg Smith, said she was a very humble person.
“She probably would have preferred to be named after someone else,” Smith said.
A mural that honors Debbie was integrated into the academy’s final design. The mural reads “education is the great equalizer,” a quote that was near to Debbie’s heart.
“This was the perfect place to have her name,” Smith said.
Debbie and Greg raised their family in the construction world. The programs at Debbie Smith CTE reflect how the couple made their living.
Debbie Smith CTE Academy will be the second school in the Washoe County School District with the CTE designation.
Social studies teacher Richard Clark, hopes that others can follow Washoe’s lead.
“Blending the CTE model with academics and making this the model for high school is something that's going to be really important,” Clark said. “Not just for Northern Nevada, but for the State of Nevada, and hopefully for the Mountain West.”
Doors are set to open on August 11, just in time for the new school year.