(WACO) – The Gene Haas Foundation, headquartered in Oxnard, California, has awarded a $25,000 gift to the Precision Machining Technology program at Texas State Technical College in Waco. The announcement was made in front of students and faculty members Wednesday morning at the Industrial Technology Center. The money will be used for program scholarships and to supply copies of “Machinery’s Handbook” for students. The Precision Machining Technology program is accredited by the National Institute for Metalworking Skills Inc. Pictured are (left to right) Matt Sykora, territory manager for Haas Factory Outlet in Richardson, and Joe Rodriguez, TSTC’s statewide division director of production manufacturing.

(WACO) – A way to prosperity means education, whether it is students sitting in a classroom or working adults learning how to make Waco a better place in which to live.

The public-privately funded Prosper Waco held its second Summit on Monday at the Waco Convention Center, bringing together more than 500 city leaders, educators, social service organization representatives and others interested in advancing the city in education, financial security and health.

Texas State Technical College in Waco is a partner in Prosper Waco’s Project Link, a grant-funded initiative aimed at creating a college-going culture by connecting selected high school students at La Vega, Waco and University high schools to higher education and the workforce. McLennan Community College and the Waco and La Vega school districts are also Project Link partners.

“TSTC and MCC have just made it easy for the students to see what is available to them,” said Cindy Michaelis, executive director of the La Vega Pirates Education Foundation.

Cory Gropp is a new Project Link liaison at Waco High School. He has 250 students in grades nine to 12, with 60 of them being seniors. He said 30 of the seniors have applied to TSTC.

“Some of the students are interested in the Biomedical Equipment Technology program and other technologies with associate degrees,” Gropp said. “Some of the students didn’t know there were certificate options.”

He said Project Link is a way to help heighten awareness of getting a higher education in Waco.

“I’m a firm believer that students should have tons of options to go to college,” Gropp said.

TSTC’s partnership with Prosper Waco could grow.

Prosper Waco Executive Director Matthew Polk said board members for the Waco Independent School District will consider this fall expanding its Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy, or GWAMA, to include construction fields.

Polk said the idea is for city high school students in the academy to shadow local builders to learn about their skills.

“It will get students on the road to creating a natural pathway to a career,” he said.

Polk hopes academy students decide to pursue further education in the construction fields they are interested in. TSTC offers certificates and associate degrees in Building Construction Technology, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology and other building-related fields.

Attendees were divided into three rooms at the gathering and talked about their ideas for improving Waco. Some of the ideas included local businesses helping employees with college tuition, mobile health clinics, more accessible public transportation, career shadowing, interview coaching and workplace childcare.

“TSTC does supply a number of our trained workforce,” Waco Mayor Kyle Deaver said. “We need to do a better job of letting TSTC know our workforce needs. We are extremely fortunate to have TSTC in Waco. We are hoping to add more technology jobs and we hope TSTC in Waco can help with that.”

Prosper Waco held its first Summit in early 2015 and hopes to make the gathering a yearly fall event.

For more information on Prosper Waco, log on to prosperwaco.org.

For more information on TSTC, visit to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – Jake Harding wants to make clear that air traffic controllers are not the on-the-ground signalers waving fluorescent sticks and guiding planes to parking gates.

Harding, 19, of Houston and a 2015 graduate of Hargrave High School in Huffman, said air traffic control is an aerial adrenaline rush which brings order to landings and takeoffs, no matter the weather conditions. He is currently in his fourth semester at Texas State Technical College in Waco pursuing an Associate of Applied Science degree in Air Traffic Control. His goal is to work in air traffic control in Colorado.

TSTC in Waco is one of two higher education institutions in Texas that are Federal Aviation Administration-approved Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative Schools.

“I wanted to experience university life, but I am glad I chose TSTC,” Harding said.

The technical college’s Air Traffic Control program has experienced growth over the last couple of years. There were 20 students that started in Fall Semester 2014, with 15 of those students graduating earlier this year. More than 30 students began Fall Semester classes in 2015, with 25 of those students on schedule to graduate next year. The Fall Semester 2016 has 44 students.

The more than 60 students in the department’s two cohorts this year are mostly from the Austin, Dallas and Houston areas.

Dar Klontz, Air Traffic Control program chair, said prospective students are already applying for Fall Semester 2017. He anticipates the program capping cohorts at 48 students for the next couple of years due to equipment and laboratory space. Klontz said he wants program applicants to have good geography, geometry and communication skills.

“We have the ability to sell the program once they are here,” he said. “We invite students to take a look at what we have.”

More than half the program’s coursework is done in hands-on laboratory simulations. One of the first classes that new students take is Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control. Other courses are offered in meteorology, terminal operations and air navigation.

“We are one of the few programs in the country that teaches with a fictitious airport,” Klontz said.

That imaginary airport, Academy Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is depicted on a multiscreen air traffic simulator on the second floor of the Col. James T. Connally Aerospace Center.

Cole Barbe, 21, grew up in Houston and graduated in 2013 from Cypress Creek High School. He graduated in May with an associate degree in air traffic control from TSTC and was hired shortly after graduation to operate the simulator. His dream is to work at airports either in Houston or Colorado.

“I saw the simulator and I was sold,” Barbe recalled of when he was a first-semester student.

Barbe said he hopes his work with the simulator will make him a good candidate for the FAA Academy, whose students must pass rigorous testing to become air traffic controllers. FAA applicants under 31 must have U.S. citizenship, pass medical and security investigations and achieve agency pre-employment tests.

“You have to bring your A-game every day,” Barbe said.

The work is done by at least 14,000 FAA air traffic controllers working in control towers at airports throughout the nation.

Texas has the second highest employment of air traffic controllers in the nation with about 2,000 workers, with Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport alone having at least 550 air traffic controllers in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Many air traffic controller hirings through 2024 are expected to replace retirees, according to the labor statistics bureau.

A TSTC student hoping to fill the anticipated hiring need is Kali Cole, 21, of Carrollton and a 2013 graduate of Hebron High School in Carrollton. She is scheduled to graduate with an associate degree in air traffic control next spring.

Cole is a student worker and works alongside Barbe to guide students in the early stages of the program.

“The program gives you a leg up to be well ahead of the curve,” Cole said.

Cole had some familiarity with the field when she entered the program because her father is an air traffic controller in Fort Worth, but it was not her first career choice. She had also considered marketing and business administration.

“I promised my father it would be my plan B,” Cole said.

She searched online and came across TSTC’s program. She applied and was accepted but did not see what the program offered until she walked into the Connally Aerospace Center.

“It’s fun and doesn’t feel like school,” she said.

For more information on the Air Traffic Control program at TSTC, log on to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – Chef Mark Schneider is at a sizzling time in his career.

Schneider, chair of the Culinary Arts department at Texas State Technical College in Waco, was recently named Chef Educator of the Year by the Texas Chefs Association.

“It’s a huge honor,” he said. “I’ve been in education for 13 years and 12 of those have been at TSTC in Waco. I have watched and followed past competitors and what they do.”

Schneider will advance to the American Culinary Federation’s Central Region competition. The region is made up of states from Texas to North Dakota to Michigan. The winner goes on to national Chef Educator of the Year contest conducted by the American Culinary Federation.

Schneider’s draw to cooking is seeing the instant gratification for guests when they see a plate of food that looks too good to eat. He specializes in classical-based cuisine and feels he can satisfy the palate of any guest.

Schneider also enjoys watching the flourishing of students, from those who learn the basics of cutting vegetables to those planning menus and leading kitchens.

“I like the artistry and physical work with cooking,” he said.

Schneider is a 1989 graduate of Midway High School in Woodway.

He received a culinary diploma from the Greater Cincinnati Culinary Academy in 1993 and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Food Service and Culinary Arts from TSTC in Waco in 2001. He received a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree in Business from Tarleton State University in Stephenville in 2009.

Schneider began work at TSTC in 2002. He became a certified executive chef in 2002 and a certified culinary educator in 2008, both granted by the American Culinary Federation.

“Chef Schneider has worked diligently throughout his career to stretch the boundaries of culinary education,” Chef Gayle Van Sant of TSTC’s Culinary Arts department said. “Mentoring students and staff, development curriculum and encouraging all those around him are three of Chef Schneider’s strongest attributes. TSTC is fortunate to have such a distinguished and accomplished culinary professional.”

Schneider was named Chef of the Year by the Texas Chefs Association in 2008.

To learn more about the Culinary Arts program at TSTC in Waco, log on to tstc.edu.