Former Phoenix College architectural drafting student, Kennon Simington, Jr., was recently accepted into the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Simington, who returned to Phoenix College after 12 years in the United States Marine Corps, will begin his apprenticeship this Fall.

"To be accepted as an apprentice to Taliesin involves a rigorous and competitive process," said Debra Dorr, Industrial Technology Department Chair. "Ken is the first Phoenix College student I am aware of who has been accepted to Taliesin. He is the kind of dedicated student a teacher loves to have in class."

Dr. Jesse Mireles, Executive Assistant to the President at Phoenix College and former instructor of Simington, agrees that he will make an excellent student at Taliesin.

"Kennon is a rare individual," he said. "Instructors can teach their entire careers and never experience teaching a student like Kennon. He is a teacher’s dream because with our professional training he allowed us to mold him into a junior architectural professional. He will surely make his mark in this discipline because he not only has the dedication but also the discipline required to succeed in this exclusive club of architecture. His success also speaks well for our success in doing what we are charged to do, helping students become functional wage earning citizens in the community."

Simington describes Dorr and Mireles, as well as Dr. Camilla Westenberg, English, as inspirational role models and guides. However, he also notes that the organizational skills of the instructors, up-to-date technology and the technology crew all contributed to his success at Phoenix College.

"In the course of enlightenment, one must understand the responsibilities of humanity and maintain the harmony with the infinite," he described. "If one wanted to reach a higher level of consciousness, one must search for role models, who are able to show the way this new traveler in the proper direction or someone who already knows the different paths and is willing to show the way."

This Phoenix College graduate envisions this upcoming experience as an "architectural boot camp." He will eat, sleep, live and be one with the desert during his first year of study. All first year students are required to use organic material to construct their living environment in the desert. Simington will begin his studies in October.

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