KTECH Mechatronics and KTECH VR students received their final certifications Tuesday at the annual KTECH awards banquet.
Cade Bass, Ezekiel Davis, Gabriel Padron, Geremiah Sanders, and Cesar Santos received Mechatronics certifications. Aaron Johnson, Kristina Meade, and Patrick Nicholson received Virtual Reality certifications at the banquet.
Gabe Padron received the James Palmer Lindberg Jr. Trajectory Award that is given to the student with the highest scholastic achievement.
"Hearing about this program and just receiving the opportunities and all the doors that were opened to me, it's all a blessing, and I thank God for it," Padron said.
Padron said he will remember KTECH and be grateful for the program for the rest of his life.
"That's why I think it's different than any other college or trade school," he said. "Because of how much they actually care and want to help and see success, and make a significance in an individual's life."
Guest speakers at the event were KTECH Class 14 graduate and Mazda Toyota Manufacturing employee Darrius Butler, and Joe Demos, owner of Joe Demos State Farm Agency and father of KTECH graduate Ryan Demos.
Demos told the students he has seen the opportunities KTECH provided for his son, and he told them they are lucky to have the program.
"In my books, the definition of luck is preparation meeting opportunity," Demos said. "And I can tell you you're prepared, I've seen it firsthand. You're lucky: you're prepared, and you certainly have opportunity. What you do with that opportunity is really going to define your success."