Eastern Center For Arts & Tech Names First Of Numerous Black Students Spotlighted In Feb.

WILLOW GROVE, PA — The Eastern Center for Arts and Technology has named Kyle Neal, a Cheltenham High School senior, as its first Black student to be spotlighted during the month of February, which is Black History Month.

Neal is enrolled in the robotics and automated technology program at Eastern, which serves students in nine eastern Montgomery County school districts.

"To Kyle, Black History Month means looking back on how far people of color have come and how things have changed over the years," reads a news release from Eastern. "Kyle feels as though his heritage has influenced him to work harder for everything he achieves."

Neal, in a statement, said that Black History month is a "great opportunity for me to look back and remember."

Eastern says that Neal has always been interested in robotics but didn't have the chance to explore it as an actual career until he found out about the robotics and automated technology program at the school, whose campus is in Willow Grove.

"With technology constantly changing and improving so many facets of all industries, Kyle recognized this as a very rewarding career path," Eastern stated.

Neal completed an internship last summer at Lynn Electronics in North Wales, and he also participated in a local job skill demonstration competition, for which he received a second-place award, according to Eastern.

Neal is expected to attend a postsecondary program for mechatronics after graduating from Cheltenham High School.

"If Eastern has a program you are interested in, then I say — go for it!," Neal said in his statement. "You never know how it will influence your future. You will not always have the chance to learn with industry-standard equipment in an educational environment that allows you to directly apply what you are learning in your class."