(WACO, Texas) – Dylan Durst said he was glad to be back in the cockpit as he took off for his first flight late last spring at Texas State Technical College’s airport in Waco after a two-month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was about picking up where you left off,” he said.

Durst, who grew up in Mason and graduated from high school in Katy, is pursuing an Associate of Applied Science degree in Aircraft Pilot Training Technology at TSTC. He is scheduled to graduate this spring.

Durst and other students returned to classes and flew briefly after spring break in March of 2020. When TSTC converted classes to online and temporarily ceased face-to-face learning later that month, flight students were grounded until late May. The program then implemented a hybrid learning approach.

“We have been very fortunate that we have been able to continue operations in a manner that has proven safe,” said Greg Russell, chief instructor in TSTC’s Aircraft Pilot Training Technology program. “It may sound cliche, but our success as a department has come from the aviators’ ability to constantly evaluate and mitigate risks while adjusting to an ever-changing environment.”

The program’s 12 certified flight instructors returned to campus in early May to do training on sanitizing techniques and personal protection equipment. Students returned in mid-May for a week of their own health and safety training. The instructors and students also studied material data safety sheets to know all of the chemicals to be used for sanitizing aircraft before and after flights.

Everyone must abide by health and safety guidelines from TSTC and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding hand washing, masks and social distancing when possible.

“It’s been extraordinary for sure,” said Ryan Lee, a flight instructor at TSTC. “The students have done well adapting to the protocols and procedures.”

Before students climbed back into the cockpit, they spent time using flight simulators to acclimate themselves to flying after their break. Durst said he was glad to have that opportunity to focus his mind again on flying.

Russell stressed the importance of students’ experience with actual planes.

“Our program requires that students be hands-on in the aircraft to practice procedures, checklists and aircraft control,” he said. “Students and our department would not have survived to this point without the ability to use in-person training.”

Lee said that due to the airplane sanitizing the students must undertake, flight blocks have been extended from two hours to two and a half hours. Students are required to fly at least three times a week. Lee said the increased flight time is good for students because they get to spend more time flying with instructors.

“We lost a lot of ground with our students,” Lee said. “We had a huge gap to make up with the students to make them proficient.”

There are positive aspects that Durst and Lee are taking away from the pandemic’s changes to teaching at TSTC.

Lee predicts better sanitizing operations for airplanes in the future.

“People expect to travel,” he said. “I think we are still in the golden age of transportation. I think we will bounce back really quickly.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a need for 45,000 commercial pilots by 2029. The number of airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers is projected to grow to more than 87,000.

“Right now would be the best time to start their aviation training,” Lee said. “The new students really need to know that a lot of the airlines offered early retirement to pilots. There will be a new shortage of pilots along with the preexisting shortage.”

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu. 

(WACO, Texas) – Texas State Technical College has been selected as one of four colleges nationally to take part in a program aimed at producing more workers for the automotive collision repair industry.

Enterprise Holdings, with funding from its philanthropic arm the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation, and Missouri-based Ranken Technical College have launched the Automotive Collision Engineering Pilot Program. The program includes that college, TSTC, and institutions in California and Illinois.

The pilot program’s purpose is to have students get real-world experience as they learn in classes to go into the collision repair industry. Jobs for auto body and glass repairers is projected to be at 184,000 by 2029, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Texas, workers are reported to make an annual mean wage of $36,960.

“We’re proud to be spearheading the Automotive Collision Engineering Pilot Program through this innovative pilot,” said Mary Mahoney, vice president of Enterprise Holdings’ Insurance Replacement Division. “As the world’s largest car rental provider and an industry leader in mobility and technology, we have a huge stake in the health of the automotive repair industry and are committed to doing our part to invest in its success.”

The pilot program is using a model that Ranken Technical College has developed to provide apprenticeships to collision repair students. TSTC’s Auto Collision and Management Technology program will follow this format.

Students starting this fall in TSTC’s Auto Collision and Management Technology program are eligible to join the apprenticeship program. Students that meet program requirements throughout their time at TSTC will earn the Associate of Applied Science degree in Auto Collision and Management Technology – Repair Specialization Co-op. Some of the topics that students will learn include automotive plastic and sheet molded compound repair, collision repair welding, estimating, structural analysis and vehicle hardware.

“This program is for someone who really wants to do this,” said Jannifer Stimmel, an instructor in TSTC’s Auto Collision and Management Technology program. “We are aiming for a very special kind of student. We want someone who is motivated and driven.”

Students accepted into the program will take seven weeks of classes and work at approved repair shops for seven weeks each semester. Stimmel and the students will select the best place to work, but she will visit to make sure the repair shop has the right equipment and a technician who can mentor. 

She said it will help if shops are part of the Ford Certified Collision Network. Shop staff need to keep journals each week for Stimmel to review students’ progress. A portion of each student’s pay is subsidized by the pilot program.

“The goal is to have them work wherever they are planning on living when they graduate,” Stimmel said. “The ultimate goal is for them to be in a certified shop that can offer them an opportunity.”

The collision repair field is evolving for technicians who are becoming collision engineers.

“We are handed the instructions when a vehicle has been wrecked, and it is our job to put it back the way the manufacturer had it,” Stimmel said. “We are using procedures to re-engineer the vehicle and building it just like the factory does.”

Potential students interested in the pilot program can go to https://www.beacollisionengineer.com.

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu. 

(WACO, Texas) – Sunday’s snow and ice caused face-to-face classes to be canceled on Monday at Texas State Technical College, though online classes went on as scheduled. This caused some students to have their first day of classes for the spring semester on Tuesday.

TSTC students, faculty and staff continue to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in wearing masks, not gathering in groups, and sanitizing hands and work areas. All of this is being done to fight the spread of COVID-19.

“Please keep not only yourself, but your family and all that you come into contact with on your campus, safe and healthy,” said Patti Tate, interim provost of TSTC’s Waco campus.

Jack Brown, of Angleton, worked on Sunday during the snowstorm and joined a snowball fight with his co-workers. On Monday, he went back to work and enjoyed the last of the melting snow but could not attend his Diesel Equipment Technology classes because of the weather closure.

But on Wednesday, Brown attended the first day of his Advanced Hydraulics class.

“It’s getting back on a schedule,” Brown said. “It’s getting back into a routine.”

The fourth-semester student said the keys to adapting to TSTC’s hybrid programs are to pay attention, go to class and prepare for a good deal of reading. Brown said he appreciates the hands-on labs more because he can work on equipment he does not see outside of class.

“It’s a nice combination of how this college works,” he said.

Students, faculty and staff members will continue to see physical changes across campus during the semester as the $29.6 million abatement, demolition and construction project continues.

“There is much excitement with buildings coming down and others going up. And yes, we are having to find alternate routes to get to labs and work, but it will be well worth it when completed,” said Jerome Mendias, TSTC’s associate provost in Waco.

The abatement and demolition of campus houses that date back to the days of Connally Air Force Base will continue during the spring, according to information provided by Karen Waller, TSTC’s vice president for facilities, planning and construction. The first phase of abatement will be completed this month, with demolition already underway on the south side of campus. The second phase is scheduled to begin Jan. 25. 

The abatement process for Lavaca Hall, located behind the Kultgen Automotive Center, has already been completed, with demolition planned for January and February. Abatement and demolition for Patterson Hall and other structures is planned for March to July.

Griffith Hall, a student residential facility now under construction next to the Student Services Center, is scheduled to open in August.

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu. 

(WACO, Texas) – Glenn Zgabay has seen a lot in his more than 40 years of working at Texas State Technical College.

“It’s rare nowadays to see someone’s career span over 40 years with the same employer,” said Nick Alvarado, TSTC’s vice president of Communication and Creative Services. “Glenn has been a strong foundation to our team with his technical experience and historical knowledge. We are truly grateful for his dedication to TSTC.”

From the evolution of technology, to a college name change in the 1990s, to buildings torn down and new ones erected, Zgabay is a walking history of the college. But at the end of January, he will retire from his position as a publication specialist in TSTC’s Creative Services department.

“I worked with so many wonderful people during my tenure here at TSTC, that it would probably be impossible to list them all and unfair to try,” Zgabay said.

Jan Osburn, a former executive director of Creative Services at TSTC, worked with Zgabay for about 30 years. She remembers his working with a paste-up board for designs and trips back and forth to the print shop to work with staff to produce camera-ready pieces.

Eventually design work became digitized, and Zgabay had to keep up. Osburn said he was great with Adobe Photoshop but also worked with Adobe PageMaker and QuarkXPress. He also contributed his skills to helping produce TSTC’s former student newspaper, the Tech Times.

“Other than being talented and skillful, Glenn is a kind person, but he has a dry sense of humor,” Osburn said.

Caitlin Hooks, interim assistant director of Creative Services at TSTC, had an office next door to Zgabay’s at the Provence Graphic Communications Center on the Waco campus.

“Although I have only worked alongside him for the last five years, I can say that Glenn has always come to my office with a smile and ready to work,” Hooks said. “He is always willing to take on difficult projects and never complains. I have never seen Glenn stressed out or upset. He is generally an easygoing and happy person to work and be around.”

Zgabay was born in Waco.

“My father worked at James Connally Air Force Base and had been an aircraft pilot. So naturally when I was very young, I wanted to be a pilot,” he said.

Zgabay graduated in 1976 from the Commercial Art and Advertising program at what was then Texas State Technical Institute (TSTI) and eventually became TSTC.

“I’ve always liked to draw and have been interested in art,” he said. “I was attracted to artwork relating to fantasy, science fiction, surrealism — the type of artwork seen on many album covers, movie posters and book covers.”

During his time at TSTI, he was a work-study student in the campus Public Information and News Office and did a paid summer internship at Southwest Advertising, an agency that was in downtown Waco’s ALICO Building. After graduation, he worked at the agency for about a year before being hired at TSTC as a graphic artist in February 1977.

“My career in this field spans over 44 years,” he said. “One of the biggest changes in commercial art production has been the introduction of personal computers, and what we referred to at the time as desktop publishing. The advent of this liberating change revolutionized the profession.”

What has kept Zgabay at TSTC is its mission to educate Texans to get great-paying jobs. He said TSTC’s contribution to the 10 Texas cities that have campuses and to the state is essential.

“Being a graduate of the college, I have felt a personal bond and kinship with our students,” he said. “Working in Waco, and being close to my and my wife’s families, was also a major factor.”

Zgabay said it feels liberating to retire.

“I have enough plans to keep me busy for years, and they will definitely include artistic endeavors of various sorts.”

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu. 

(WACO, Texas) – Joseph Leavelle Jr., of Lorena, is eager to use his love of technology to find just the right job.

He took a step toward that during the recently completed fall semester at Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus. He was one of three students to complete the Basic Computer Networking and Systems Administration Occupational Skills Award (OSA).

The students learned how to break down the components of networking and identify the function of each layer, then how to connect, configure and program end devices, routers and switches to create a network, said Jim Hogue, lead instructor in TSTC’s Computer Networking and Systems Administration program.

“Subjects that are normally covered in a week were given in a day in the OSA,” Hogue said. “Each lesson builds on the last, so there is actually an acceleration of knowledge as the OSA progresses.”

Leavelle, a graduate of Robinson High School, was able to work part time at a tractor supply business and devote time to his studies. He said he is grateful to his parents, who live less than two miles from him, for letting him use their internet for the online work. He estimates he devoted at least 30 hours a week to the OSA classes.

“Most of the material was pretty new,” Leavelle said. “I have experience working with computers at different jobs, but I have not done computer networking and worked on them, formatted them and worked on networks.”

He said the time spent studying was worth it. He said his favorite lessons involved using the Cisco Packet Tracer, a network simulation tool.

“I am definitely more of a hands-on learner,” Leavelle said. “I would rather see things and how they are supposed to work.”

His next step is looking for a new job.

“I am primarily looking for jobs in the information technology field,” Leavelle said. “It seems like experience is valued more in the field, but the OSA can help me get in the door.”

The OSA is a three-class, fast-paced way to meet employment needs in Texas. The OSA classes are conducted through the Cisco Networking Academy, enabling students to receive a discount to take the Cisco Certified Network Associate test. 

Leavelle said he plans to take the test before May.

Classes take a semester to complete and can motivate students to pursue an associate degree or go into the job market.

Registration continues for the spring semester. For more information, go to tstc.edu.

(WACO, Texas) – Aram Hernandez got his first experience in environmental work as a member of a horizontal drilling crew installing environmental remediation wells throughout the country.

“There is a safety guy on every job site,” he said. “I never really knew what OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) was and the environmental regulations we had to go by.”

Fast forward to this month, when Hernandez received an Associate of Applied Science degree in Environmental Technology – Compliance and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Occupational Safety Compliance Technology from Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus. 

He did this while grappling with personal challenges, working a part-time job, and learning how to be a student again since graduating from Midway High School a decade ago. 

“Y’all (TSTC) gave me a chance for a second life,” Hernandez said. “I will be forever thankful for that.”

Hernandez said he is appreciative of Verna LaStrapes, who retired earlier this year from TSTC’s Enrollment Services department, for helping him to get enrolled and settled in classes.

“This college showed me so much kindness and made me believe they wanted to help me,” he said. “I’m really happy I finally got to experience some good people.”

Hernandez said his mentor is Lester Bowers, TSTC’s statewide chair of the Environmental Health and Safety department, who kept him motivated to graduate. Bowers encouraged Hernandez to attend free counseling on campus, and went with him to visit a licensed counselor and therapist for his first session.

“Aram is a focused, dedicated young man who never gives up,” Bowers said. “I truly believe he will succeed in his life’s quest, and many could learn from him on how to work hard. I have had many conversations with Aram during his time here, and there was one quote I told him that he has told me that he will carry with him throughout life. That quote is, ‘Progress, not perfection.’”

Hernandez attended classes and studied as he continued to handle Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, with which he was diagnosed in elementary school. He said staff at TSTC did not make him feel inferior because of it. 

“I told myself I would sign up for the accommodations and only use them if I really needed them,” Hernandez said. “I was determined to help myself first and develop new ways to overcome my ADHD.”

Hernandez said tossing a stress ball back and forth often relaxed his mind in classes and studying. He developed a color-coded system for vocabulary words and matching games to retain facts.

“I wanted to make the ADHD a strength and not a weakness,” he said.

Hernandez began his job search in November. He writes down short-term goals and how to accomplish them in notebooks, something he started doing early on at TSTC.

“It is going to be a little harder for me to keep going with my dream, but I am not discouraged about it,” he said. “Then you have a pandemic on top of it. As long as I apply to two or three jobs a week, there is not a reason I cannot find a job here.”

Through all of this, Hernandez, who grew up in Waco, received support from his father, Adam Hernandez, and his cousin, Esteban Hernandez, who graduated in 2018 from TSTC’s Waco campus with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Avionics Technology.

“It’s very good to see him graduate,” Esteban Hernandez said. “My whole family is proud. Grandpa and Grandma are extremely proud. We have seen him go through a lot these last couple of years. To finally graduate and have something he can have forever and something that can better his life, that is what he needed. That made us feel great.”

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.