Pittsburgh, PA - Printing Industries of America is pleased to announce that the Printing Technologies program of the Center of Applied Technology North (CAT-North) in Severn, MD has been awarded the 2016 Frederick D. Kagy Education Award of Excellence. The program is honored for its innovative approach to preparing students for entry-level positions in the printing industry. CAT-North is a public career and technology school in Maryland’s Anne Arundel County school system.
 
Accepting the award on behalf of CAT-North is Michael Born, who instructs the Printing Technologies program at CAT-North. Under his guidance, the program produces students with marketable skills in traditional offset printing as well as digital print technology. The hands-on approach of the program ensures that students are familiar with all operations of a printing company from file creation to job planning/estimating through final production and finishing. During Mr. Born’s tenure, enrollment in the Printing Technologies program has increased by 70%.
 
Mr. Born also employs inventive teaching practices such as the “Human Printing Press.” Students learn the features and functions of the components of a printing press and act out the printing process in order to envision the system as a whole. Another example includes having students interact with equipment and machinery on their first day of class. This allows students to have a powerful sensory introduction to the printing environment consisting of sound, motion, touch, and smell. The program taps heavily into industry support through its active advisory board.
 
“Mr. Born has turned the CAT-North program into one to be emulated,” said Gary Habicht, President of Printing Specialist Corporation. “The kids involved are enthusiastic and thoroughly engaged in what they are doing. You can feel the level of excitement in the classroom, as compared to a few years ago, when it seemed to be just another class.”
 
Mr. Born will accept the 2016 Frederick D. Kagy Education Award on behalf of CAT-North at the TAGA 2017 Annual Technical Conference on March 21, 2017in Houston, TX. For information about the Frederick D. Kagy Education Award of Excellence, visit www.printing.org/printingindustryawards.