About
Our Mission
It is our mission to collaborate with the School District of the City of Pontiac and its ITA school leadership to identify and to deliver solutions ensuring that our students are provided support as they receive the highest quality in STEM-based education preparing them to excel at the next levels of education to compete in a global workforce.
The Narrative
Out of a heart of love and concern for the students within the School District of the City of Pontiac, a group of community partners embarked up on a project to renovate an old historical school building to create an International Technology Academy (ITA) School Campus for under-privileged, high-performing students. Without sufficient funding, this journey continued from 2016 until 2020. We were excited to renovate the Old Lincoln School Building but over time a report was provided indicating it would not be feasible to renovate the failing structure and our vision did not materialize.
In the spirit of commitment and continuity, the International Technology Academy Initiatives Foundation (ITAIF) relooked its vision and mission to ensure that ITA Students receive exceptional educational opportunities, as we serve as an arm of support for its students and families in a K-12 school setting. We have continued to promote community initiatives that will yield an opportunity for us to meet new educational goals in a systemic, integrated manner within the ITA School, while continuing to focus on “STEM” curriculum supports. In addition, we do wholeheartedly envision to support a “STEAM” curriculum in the very near future.
To this end, grants have been written and awards have been continuous from General Motors, a major stakeholder in the school community. Financial supports have yielded assistance to the Robotics Team, after-school programs, i.e., Young Engineering and Artificial Intelligence Clubs, as well as course application support.
Finally, we are proud that the ITA School continues to have a graduation of well over ninety percent (90%).
Victories
The Robotics Team (Team 51) has had many, many victories just to name a few:
- First Place in the National Robotics Competition
- Semi-Finalist Traverse City Event & Motorola Quality Award
- Semi-Finalist Milford Event & Imagery Award Winner
- Howell District Event & FCA Team Spirit Award Winner
- Finalist Gaylord Event & Motorola Quality Award Winner
- Divisional Playoffs Michigan State Championship
- Tesla Semi-Finalist at World Championship in St. Louis, Mo
- Indiana Robotics Invitational Invitee (1 of only 68 teams)
General Motors personnel has been a great support to this team for well over twenty-five (25) years with engineers coming to the school and providing their expertise to the students as they embark upon each robotics competition.
Our Needs
We need partners, stakeholders, donors and volunteers to help us to enhance the day-to-day curriculum supports by providing opportunities that will enrich our students’ learning experiences. This can happen with additional after-school clubs; funding for clubs and teacher support; after school tutoring, after-school fine arts program; summer internships; field trips; and summer travel experiences.
We are hopeful that we are able to align ITA needs with community partners, donors and volunteers. We want our students to be well-rounded and exposed.
