CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University’s student-run podcast returns for the second half of Season 2 on April 18 with an episode highlighting Amarillo philanthropists Laura and Joe Street, who recently made a monumental gift to the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
“I Am WT” hosts Myka Bailey, a junior PR/advertising/applied communication major from Abernathy, and Thomas Rodriguez, a junior digital media and communication major from Katy, are joined by the Streets to discuss the renamed Laura and Joe Street School of Nursing.
The episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud, as well as at wtamu.edu/IAmWTPodcast. New episodes will drop weekly through June.
In March, WT announced a $2.5 million gift from the Streets to establish the Street School of Nursing.
“Nursing is the glue for healthcare, I think,” Laura Street said. “I think nursing needs to be supported, because without nursing, healthcare is going to fall apart. I truly believe that.
“West Texas A&M University has one of the very best programs in the state of Texas,” she continued. “I’m just so proud of what this University has done with its nursing program. … It has completely transformed what nursing education is in our area.”
Laura Street earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing and a family nurse practitioner master’s degree at WT soon after the couple made Amarillo their home in 1984. They purchased Street Toyota after arriving in the city, then later founded Street Volkswagen of Amarillo. Laura Street also is a 2018 WT Distinguished Alumna.
In addition to providing a $500,000 endowment for operational support of the Street School of Nursing, the gift will provide $1.4 million in scholarships and graduate assistantships, and $600,000 to name two new professorships: the Laura Street Distinguished Professor of Nursing and the Todd David Street Distinguished Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health, named for the late brother of Joe Street.
Established in 1972 and graduating its first students in 1974, WT’s Street School of Nursing currently provides about 70 percent of nurses employed throughout the Texas Panhandle.
The program’s 50th anniversary will be celebrated with “Stethoscopes and Stilettos,” a fundraiser and celebration at 6 p.m. May 3 in Legacy Hall in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on WT’s Canyon campus.
Tickets are available for tables of four for $1,500, eight for $2,500 and 16 for $5,000. They may be purchased at wtamu.schoolauction.net/nursingevent24/register/ticket_sales. Individual tickets will be sold for $100 for one week beginning April 19. Reservations are due April 26.
WT nursing graduates, over the past five years, have averaged a 97 percent score on the National Council Licensure Examination, required by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to test the competency of nursing school graduates in the United States and Canada. Nationally, the average is 85 percent; in Texas, it’s 87 percent.
The “I Am WT” podcast embodies WT’s commitment to people first, one of the key principles of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the campaign — which publicly launched in September 2021— has raised more than $125 million and will continue through 2025.
In episodes of “I Am WT,” student hosts interview WT faculty, staff, students and alumni about what WT means to them.
Audiences hear stories about how attending or working at WT changed the lives of the guests, and how they’re making a difference in their community.
