Buffalo EOC – 1975
College Prep Program

Starting a New Family Tradition of Higher Education

Since 1889, over 600 members and relatives of the Amos family had worked for just one company – Bethlehem Steel Corporation. But Archie Amos had other ambitions.  After a few months of shoveling iron ore in the coke ovens at Bethlehem, he quit and never looked back. He eventually joined the Army in 1966 and shipped off to Vietnam.  After he survived a three-year tour of duty, he worked a number of jobs until he realized that he needed to blaze a better career path with the help of higher education. That’s why Mr. Amos attended the Buffalo EOC in 1975, where he studied Math, English and other subjects in the College Prep program. Mr. Amos notes, “I wanted to go to college but I was not mentally prepared. The EOC helped me set a level of expectation. It gave me the smoothest transition from the labor world to the academic world.”

Thanks to his EOC experience, Mr. Amos was ready to attend the University at Buffalo and take advantage of his Veteran’s benefits. He earned a B.A. in Urban Affairs and Planning, which led to many years of active civic involvement in the city of Buffalo. This includes working as the City Coordinator/Developer for the Department of Community Development; a City Firefighter; a School Teacher; and a Council Representative for the University District. Plus, he was appointed by the Mayor to the position of Vice President of Women/Minority and Small Business Development and the Executive Director of Women/Minority Business Enterprises Programs.

In 2001, Mr. Amos was appointed by Governor George Pataki to become the Director of Community Outreach Coordination for Western New York. Mr. Amos acts as the interface between New York State government and the schools and communities in Western New York and Niagara County. His job is to ensure that the community is aware of the programs and resources available to it – and he helps create new resources to meet changing community needs.