In order to keep students in synch with the changing face of industry, the Los Angeles Unified School District has, for the past five years, invested its time and efforts into the Applied Math and Science Academy (AMSA) Exploring Technology Program. Due to the generosity of the California National Guard, a one million-dollar grant was awarded to the LAUSD to fund seven schools for the program. The AMSA-ET program is a part of the Industrial Education and Technology Program led by Jim Konantz and Gene Lew.

The schools were selected through a competive grant application process. The process required a detailed plan of how the school would approach the AMSA-ET program that was then in an experimental phase. The grant proposal required; the detailed plan of converting their old industrial arts shop into an Exploring Technology laboratory, researching and implementing a self-paced, independent study approach known as the modular system, a team of a math/science/Industrial Technology educators for curriculum development and core teaching . Each self-contained module would cover one or more of five areas: construction, transportation, communication, biotechnology or manufacturing.

Since the program began in 1995, teachers involved with the Exploring Technology Program have met every month for all day training sessions on new modules, skills or other related topics. Students have resonded positively to the change, displaying heightened interest in the hands-on experiences the modules offer. In addition to the original seven pilot schools, six more schools were annually incorporated into the conversion process. The growth of the program, to include over 30 of LAUSD's 80 middle schools, was made possible through the superintendent's critical funding needs approved by former Superintendent Sid Thompson and current Superintendent Dr. Rueben Zacarias. Eventually the LAUSD would like to engage every one of its middle schools in the program so all students will be better prepared for the new, technologically advanced job market of today.