Award-winning Student

Most professionals go through their entire careers without being recognized for superior achievements. Stephen McKendree won a Marcom Creative Award at his job with the Education Channel before he had even graduated with his degree in Digital Production. In fact, when Stephen won the award, he had only just started his degree program at International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa. Even so, he credits the Academy with helping him win the prestigious award.

Stephen explains he won the award for the second project he did for the Education Channel. It was just before he started working on this project that Stephan enrolled at IADT - Tampa. "Working on this second project [for the Education Channel], I was able to use everything I had already learned in school. The first project I did, I only had myself, on-the-job experience and stuff I had taught myself to draw from. Having all the new stuff from the Academy to use for the second project made all the difference."

With how much and how quickly this field changes, I don't think any program can teach me everything I need to know. The Academy realizes this and teaches the current technology, but also teaches ways of looking at things and ways of solving problems that, even when the technology changes, are still relevant. - Stephen McKendree | Digital Production

Stephen received his Marcom Creative Award, honoring excellence in marketing and communications, for a documentary about kids with learning disabilities he edited and produced for Yes Read. He did it in partnership with the Dyslexia Foundation.

With such an award under his belt, few would doubt Stephen got the jump start he was looking for when he enrolled at IADT Tampa.

"Since I'm already working in the business (Stephen has been working as a producer/editor and videographer for Education Channel for several years), I was looking for school to be more of a jump start than merely a place to earn a degree," he says. "Seeing new things and different ways of doing things, meeting new people, that's what I was looking for school to do. And it has."

"With how much and how quickly this field changes, I don't think any program can teach me everything I need to know. The Academy realizes this and teaches the current technology, but also teaches ways of looking at things and ways of solving problems that, even when the technology changes, are still relevant. I came here to learn the general ideas I can then apply to anything in the future."