“I grew up in south Odessa with my mom having a 9th-grade education, my father having a 6th-grade education,” he said. “The statistics on me were not in my favor at that time, I probably was going to drop out.”
But his teachers and principals at Odessa High School saw his potential.
“I was not the athlete, I didn’t play the sports,” he explained.
His educators urged him to join a program called Health, Science, Technology Education.
“Three days a week we would go to the hospital or clinic or physical therapy. And then two days a week we were in class,” said Arzate.
At the time it was a small program with only ten students from both OHS and Permian High School. And it was the springboard he needed to discover skills that a traditional classroom couldn’t offer.
He graduated high school in 1997 with his proud parents by his side and immediately began a career in healthcare.
“I started with Medical Center Hospital at age 17. They gave me a full scholarship to go to school,” he said.
He attended a technical school in Dallas then returned to Odessa and began his professional career as a cardiovascular technologist.
That ECISD program has ballooned in popularity, now known as the Career and Technical Education program or CTE. Last year more than 10,000 students participated in 27 offerings from engineering and automotive to welding, nursing and culinary courses.
“I got to see firsthand what it was to work in healthcare and what each little part of healthcare consists of,” explained Arzate.
These programs are popular but are spread out over seven different sites. The ECISD 2023 bond package provides a brand new facility, to be built in south Odessa. This would consolidate many existing programs under one roof, add new CTE programs, and improve safety and support for these students. The new CTE Center will house 400 full-time students and another 2,000 bussed in for elective classes.
Arzate, now an area manager for Midland Health at Home, says the program launched his career and changed his life.
“If I would not have taken these courses, if I had not listened to my teachers, I don’t know what I would be doing right now.”
Data shows students who participate in CTE have a 29% higher graduation rate. And if this bond measure passes, 21 of the biggest oil & gas companies in the Permian Basin have pledged financial support toward the new center.
Arzate is voting for the bond package and is pleading with Ector County voters to join him.
“I cared for you. I was at your bedside when you needed it the most. I got that education starting in high school. We need this bond so other kids like when I was a teenager can come back and take care of you at a later age.”
From cradle to career the new CTE Center will provide a much-needed skilled workforce across Ector County.
By Shelley Childers