Author Archives: Daniel Perry

TSTC Technical Program Receives Accreditation

(WACO) – The Precision Machining Technology program at Texas State Technical College in Waco recently received its first program accreditation from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills Inc.

 

The nationally recognized certification means the technical program meets NIMS’s standards for training future industry workers for a global workforce. The accreditation lasts five years, after which the time the program can reapply.

 

“For some time, I had been looking for an opportunity to provide a higher level of training for our students,” said Jose Rodriguez, chair of the Precision Machining Technology program. “We needed to meet high standards. The standards needed to be credible and acceptable nationally.”

 

Rodriguez said he wanted the accreditation not only for current students, but also for veterans and those already working in machining and manufacturing who do not have a formal academic background. The students will now be able to earn NIMS national skills credentials.

 

Caleb Crawford, 20, of Waxahachie looks forward to working on skills credentials. He said employers should sense his confidence and how to do processes because of the extra work he will put in.

 

“It’s hard to get in somewhere if you don’t have experience,” Crawford said.

 

Colt Gibson, 20, a Precision Machining Technology major from Mason, said getting credentials could help him bring knowledge to small machine shops. And, he hopes his efforts can inspire other workers to pursue certifications.

 

Program faculty used NIMS standards to realign the curriculum. The work has been detailed encompassing records keeping, safety enhancements and the development of a machine maintenance program, training work procedures and materials inventory.

 

“The standards are rigorous and have helped our department re,focus and better understand our physical environment and the effect on student learning,” Rodriguez said.

 

The program has about 130 students and offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Precision Machining Technology and a Certificate in Machining. Students learn a range of skills like measuring, blueprint reading, design and machine operations.

 

TSTC joins Amarillo College and South Texas College in McAllen as the only higher education institutions in Texas with the certification.
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TSTC Officers Receive Active Shooter Training

(WACO) – The police officers were ready with guns drawn as they slowly walked down a hallway and entered a room where an armed gunman was standing in wait. The officers exchanged gunfire with the man, who fell to the ground. The officers surrounded him and checked him for additional weapons.

The situation was only a scenario.

But, it was one the Texas State Technical College Police Department is capable of facing in a real crisis.

“It’s good to keep in mind something that would really happen,” said Detective Roy Luna.

Officers recently had active shooter training in the old Culinary Arts building on Avenue D on TSTC’s Waco campus. The building worked well because of its maze-like design, Police Chief Brian Davis said.

“It went exceedingly well,” Davis said about the training. “It was important right now. It was also good practice.”

The training was done through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University in San Marcos. The training center has courses in active shooter events and terrorism response tactics.

TSTC officers were led by Sgt. Joe Ashby, who attended the center five years ago for his own professional development. Ashby, a certified Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training instructor, was able to use the ALERRT’s Indirect Delivery program to temporarily secure at least $50,000 in free masks and non-lethal equipment for officers to use for their training.

“It went well,” said Ashby, who joined the TSTC police force in 2007. “We made sure we carried out plenty of run-throughs.”

Officers had classroom and scenario work and learned how the body reacts to active shooter situations and how they differed from hostage and barricade situations and standard building searches.

Methods to use in active shooter situations is already taught in police training academies using guidelines from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

“It’s good for us to refresh,” Ashby said. “It’s muscle memory things. We have to match the intensity because it will never be like the real thing, but you get as close as you can.”

Davis said plans are being developed to offer the active shooter training for local law enforcement agencies as early as this fall.

 

TSTC Students Win Gold in Louisville

(WACO) – Two students at Texas State Technical College in Waco won gold medals at SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference last week in Louisville, Kentucky.
Marcus Crespin, 20, of Victoria placed first in Residential Systems Installation and Maintenance and Christian Riestra, 20, of Lacy-Lakeview topped in Computer Programming.
“I am proud of our TSTC students,” said James Matus, a Computer Maintenance Technology program director and SkillsUSA assistant campus coordinator. “They competed to the best of their abilities and represented the college well at the national conference.”
The students continued TSTC’s tradition of garnering medals at the SkillsUSA gathering, which brought together more than 6,000 high school and college students nationwide to compete in about 100 contests. TSTC in Waco has won more than 120 gold, silver and bronze medals at nationals.
“We compete and we are confident we will do well year after year,” said Wayne Connally, a Computer Maintenance Technology instructor who traveled with the group to Louisville. “We are proud of our record. The exposure for TSTC is good.”
SkillsUSA is a professional organization teaching technical, academic and employability skills that help college students pursue successful careers. Members build these skills through student-led team meetings, contests, leadership conferences and other activities.
Crespin trained for the seven-hour contest in classes he took this year for a Home Integration certificate as part of the Computer Maintenance Technology program.
“In the competition I had to install a satellite dish and configure a home router and connect it to a camera on the network,” said Crespin, a Computer Maintenance Technology and Computer Networking and Systems Administrator double major. “Then, I had to set up a Google Chromecast and do a customer service talk in front of the judges who pretended to be customers.”
Riestra, 20, is a Computer Science – Business Applications Programming major. He credits learning the foundations of programming from the classes he took while at Connally High School where he graduated in 2013.
Riestra had to make two computer coding programs functional and user friendly for his SkillsUSA contest. There was also an interview and written test.
“This was a piece of cake compared to what my instructors have us do in class,” Riestra said. “We do more complex things.”
Riestra hopes the victory can make him noticed when job hunting. He did some networking between sightseeing and competitions.
“I’m going to put this front and center on my resume,” he said.
And, Riestra encouraged other students to think about computer programming as a career.
“I hope it grows more,” he said. “It is as important as learning mathematics and science. Just the basics of programming is good to know. It is probably five percent mathematics and mostly pure logic. It is like a puzzle.”
Crespin and Riestra both competed in SkillsUSA for the first time.
“The instructors here actually made it seem fun and helpful towards learning things in my field and things that will help me in my career later on,” said Crespin, a 2014 Victoria West High School graduate.
Crespin, Riestra and 38 other TSTC in Waco students qualified for the national competition by placing first in SkillsUSA’s statewide postsecondary competition in early April in Waco.
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TSTC Culinary Arts Cooks Up Fun for Students

(WACO) – It takes a lot to deliver a dish that looks nice and tastes good to customers in restaurants.

 

Behind the scenes it is organized chaos with chopping, frying, stirring, reading and measuring. Misreading a recipe with bad mathematics or skipping cooking steps can cause a disaster for both cooks and diners.

 

More than 20 middle school students from Waco and China Spring worked with prepared recipes at Texas State Technical College on Thursday, June 23 as part of the LITWaco summer camp held by Communities in Schools of the Heart of Texas and the Waco Fire Department.

 

“We try to target students who are at a place where they need help in excelling and want to take it to the next level,” said John David, a Communities in Schools program manager at Carver Middle School in Waco.

 

Culinary Arts program instructor Michael Osborne led the students in their lesson. Students read aloud to Osborne what to put into the four smoothies he made and got to sample the drinks.

 

“They are minnows now and they will be big fish,” Osborne said about the students. “I hope this can encourage them and spark an interest. Culinary programs are booming in area high schools.”

 

Jaiton Mitchell, 12, a seventh grade student at Carver Middle School, said she wanted to make the smoothies at home. And, she will have help – her mother, Kendall Jackson, continues to study Culinary Arts at TSTC.

 

“I like the smoothies and every fruit they have in them,” she said. “I like being in the camp because it’s fun.”

 

Students also received a tour of TSTC’s Greta W. Watson Culinary Arts Center.

 

“We want to train you to be leaders, to be in charge of a kitchen,” Osborne said.

 

The visit to TSTC marked the first time that some of the participants had been on a college campus.

 

“It gives them that boost that they need in education and life,” said fire department Deputy Fire Marshall Keith Guillory.

 

The four-week literacy camp has included visits to KXXV News Channel 25 and the Waco Police Department with plans to visit the fire department’s station on Peach Street. Camp participants have studied writing, books and public speaking during field trips and classroom lessons.

 

The trip to see how news was put on air at KXXV inspired Daniel Tucker, 13, an eighth grader at Carver Middle School, to think again about his career choice.

 

“I want to be a sports analyst if I don’t make the NBA,” he said.

 

The partnership is part of an effort by Waco Fire Chief Bobby Tatum to have the fire department become more involved and visible, said Guillory. The camp began June 5 and ends later this month.

Hutto Official Starts Work as TSTC Recruiter

(HUTTO) – Michael Smith now has more reasons to root for Hutto’s progress.
Smith, 30, the Hutto City Council’s mayor pro-tem, began June 1 as a student recruitment specialist at Texas State Technical College in Williamson County.
He was previously a political consultant working with area and state candidates.
“It’s a lot of the same skills set in working with people,” Smith said. “From the business side, recruitment is recruitment.”
Smith will focus this summer on non-traditional students, such as military veterans or those who want a career change, and will pick up some of the more than 100 high schools within a 50-mile radius of TSTC in late summer.
“There are so many high schools that haven’t been touched yet,” said Caleb Steed, TSTC in Williamson County’s interim director of student recruitment.
Smith, along with other student recruiters at TSTC, will work closely with Industry Relations and Talent Management when companies seek employees with specific skill sets.
“We are very glad he is part of the team,” Steed said. “We are looking forward to things he can bring to the table for TSTC as a whole.”
Smith was born in Frankfurt, Germany, where his family was stationed in the military. His family eventually moved to Killeen and he graduated from Shoemaker High School in 2004.
He graduated in 2008 from Texas A&M University in College Station with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Leadership and Development.
Smith has served on the Hutto City Council since 2009.
“I see that TSTC in Williamson County is a big part of a relationship with the city, which is a big part of what we do,” he said. “You can always get things done by working together. We have TSTC here which provides a flexible model to teach job training for the city and region’s economic development.”
TSTC in Williamson County is at the East Williamson County Higher Education Center on Innovation Boulevard in Hutto.

TSTC Student Sings His Way to Victory

(HARLINGEN) – Christopher Sanchez recently took listeners to another planet with his voice and stage magnetism.

Sanchez, 21, a third-semester Auto Collision Technology major at Texas State Technical College in Harlingen, played a keyboard and sang “Drops of Jupiter” by Train and won the Texas Music Café and Texas State Technical College’s Talent Search on Friday, June 17, at TSTC in Waco.

As the winner, the Combes resident received a $5,000 recording contract and the opportunity to perform on a future Texas Music Café show. Some of the tracks Sanchez will record with the contract will be featured on Texas Music Cafe’s radio show and web site.

“I didn’t stress myself about it,” Sanchez said shortly after being announced the winner. “The contest reminded me of when I would play with some of my bands in high school.”

Twenty-six students competed in area Talent Search contests throughout the spring in Abilene, Harlingen, Marshall and Waco. A relative encouraged Sanchez to sign up for the Harlingen competition, where he sang and played Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody.”

“What was surprising is the level of talent we found,” said Chris Ermoian, Texas Music Café’s executive producer and a former instructor of television production at TSTC in Waco. “TSTC is not a music school, but the intent of the contest was about having fun.”

Sanchez was chosen for the Texas Music Educators Association’s All-State Choir for three years while he attended Harlingen High School, where he graduated in 2013.

He began piano lessons when he was 6 and played periodically throughout school.

“It was something to do for fun and to feel how to perform for people,” he said.

Sanchez had another accomplishment recently — he earned a black belt in Goju-Ryu karate. He has been taking karate lessons since he was 8.

“The music and martial arts is my yin and yang,” he said. “Music is my spiritual outlet. I like to train and stay in shape.”

Sanchez is the second generation in his family to attend TSTC. His father, Marco Sanchez, studied Auto Body Technology and graduated in the late 1970s. When Sanchez was growing up, his father worked in auto body shops, management and appraising.

After graduation in December, Sanchez wants to pursue music opportunities as they arise and work for his family’s company, Property Damage Appraisers Inc., in Combes. He ultimately wants to take over the business so his father can retire.

“In being around that all my life, it’s always going to be part of me,” the TSTC student said.

Texas Music Café is available on selected PBS stations but is not currently aired on KMBH HD in the Rio Grande Valley.

 

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TSTC Students to Challenge for Gold

(WACO) – More than 40 students at Texas State Technical College in Waco are preparing to travel to Louisville, Kentucky, to contend for gold medals at SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference from June 20 to 24.

More than 6,000 high school and college students nationwide are expected to compete in about 100 contests.

“TSTC is honored to send our students to SkillsUSA this year,” TSTC in Waco Provost Adam Hutchison said. “They’ve shown that they have the talent to compete and succeed against their peers in Texas and I’m confident that they’ll represent us well at nationals.”

The TSTC Foundation honored the students with a send-off event on Tuesday, June 14, in Waco.

Jorge Centeno, 32, of Coolidge will compete in his first national contest. Centeno will clash with other students in the Technical Drafting contest. He considers the trip a way to cap off his time at TSTC after graduating in May with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Mechanical/Electrical Drafting Technology.

“Some of my instructors encouraged me to do SkillsUSA,” Centeno said. “I thought, ‘What the heck, I’m already graduating.’ The first experience at the state competition was pretty cool. I wasn’t expecting to win and placed first in the state. I’m kind of nervous about the national competition and being on a flight and going to a place I have never thought of going before.”

Winning a gold medal at the national competition can add another credential to students’ resumes and make them more marketable when job hunting.

“But more than just the competition, our students will get to interact with business and industry representatives, forge friendships and establish connections that may last a lifetime and advance their career,” Hutchison said. “It’s a great opportunity for our students to enjoy the fellowship and the challenge of technical education.”

TSTC in West Texas, Waco and Harlingen won more than 30 gold medals, and more than 70 medals total during SkillsUSA’s statewide postsecondary competition in early April in Waco.

SkillsUSA is a professional organization teaching technical, academic and employability skills that help college students pursue successful careers. Members build these skills through student-led team meetings, contests, leadership conferences and other activities.

“Our students are ready to compete,” said James Matus, TSTC in Waco’s campus assistant director and an instructor in the Computer Maintenance Technology department. “TSTC is one of the best technical colleges in America. We have been competing in SkillsUSA for decades and this experience helps us prepare our students for their competitions.”

TSTC students scheduled to compete are Nick Baker, John Barron, Pete Baus, Arthur Boussart, Cameron Burt, Jordan Carpenter, Jorge Centeno, Joe Contreras, Marcus Crespin, Justin Curtis, Dax Edmiston, Kayleigh Ekwall, Louis Garcia, Jose Gomez, Juan Gongora, Ron Grandt, Delorean Green, Ben Huffman, Lane Huston, Larry Johnson, Joey Lopez, Michelle Lopez, Agustin Maldonado, Shelby Mauger, Logan Moore, Zackary Palomin, James Pearson, Angel Pevia, Christian Riestra, Alicia Rivera, Fausto Rodriguez, Ray Ross, Johnathan Sotomayor, Dylan Stubbs, Ciro Suaste, Charles Uecker, Turner Warren, Robert White, Anna Witt, Catherine Woodard and Joseph Yates.

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Michigan Company Donates Work Gloves to TSTC

(MARSHALL) – Diesel Equipment Technology students at Texas State Technical College in Marshall recently started using work gloves donated by a Great Lakes company.

HexArmor of Grand Rapids, Michigan, provides puncture and cut-resistant work gloves, arm sleeves, personal cooling products and reusable boot covers to the mining, oil and gas, pulp paper and recycling industries.

“The gloves were a donation from the manufacturer. We will decide which types are best for shop use. Then, new gloves will be sold later in the bookstore,” said Wayne Dillon, director of the Design, Manufacturing and Transportation Division at TSTC in Marshall.

The gloves donation marks the first time the company has partnered with TSTC. The 10 pairs of gloves are valued at $500.

“Hopefully it’s the start of a long-lasting relationship in which we can bring value to the students of TSTC not only through our products, but also through various hand safety educational opportunities,” said Eric Cousins, a digital marketing specialist for HexArmor. “Provost Bart Day and his staff have been a joy to work with thus far and I’m impressed by their dedication to the safety of their students.”

Jason Mathis, 20, a Diesel Equipment Technology major from Jefferson, enjoys using the gloves.

“The gloves save your knuckles,” Mathis said. “They keep you from getting pinched and save your hands from getting nasty.”

Another Diesel Equipment Technology major, Cameron Maxwell, 22, of Waskom, said the gloves are durable and lower his chances of getting injured. After graduation this summer he wants to open his own business and work on his own equipment.

The partnership between TSTC and HexArmor began when Day reached out to the company to inquire about the gloves.

“He (Day) mentioned that the college strives to educate and familiarize students with the best safety practices and personal protective equipment available,” said Cousins. “We at HexArmor also share that passion for safety and appreciated the great opportunity to offer world-class personal protective equipment to the students at TSTC. Hopefully it will help them spread the word about the importance of hand safety at the various job sites where they will work.”

TSTC in Marshall offers the Associate of Applied Science in Diesel Equipment Technology Off-Highway Specialization and a Certificate in Diesel Equipment Technology Off-Highway Equipment.

For more information on how to make a donation to TSTC, contact The TSTC Foundation at 254-867-3900 or 903-923-3209.

Registration continues for the fall semester at TSTC. For more information log on to tstc.edu.

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TSTC Students to Challenge for Gold

(WEST TEXAS) – Two students from Texas State Technical College in West Texas are preparing to travel to Louisville, Kentucky to contend for gold medals at SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference.

 

Rachael Thompson will compete in First Aid-CPR and Jon William Lewis will compete in Information Technology Systems at the conference, which is scheduled for June 20 to 24. More than 6,000 high school and college students are expected to compete in about 100 contests.

 

“We are very proud,” TSTC in West Texas Provost Eliska Smith said. “We are excited that we will be represented again at SkillsUSA. It’s wonderful for them to have this experience to compete against other college students around the nation.”

 

The TSTC Foundation honored the students with a special send-off on Friday, June 10, in Abilene.

 

Winning a gold medal at the national competition can add another credential to students’ resumes and make them more marketable when job hunting.

 

“SkillsUSA is an excellent opportunity to get the attention of important people, whether it be the contest chair who is selected from industry or a potential employer through one’s resume,” said Lewis, 21, of Abilene and a May graduate in Computer Networking and Systems Administration.

 

Students from TSTC in West Texas, Waco and Harlingen won more than 30 gold medals, and more than 70 medals total, during SkillsUSA’s statewide postsecondary competition in early April in Waco.

 

“The biggest success I think we have had this year for our campuses in West Texas has been the amount of medals we have taken home this year,” said Crystal Latham-Alford, a SkillsUSA campus director for the Abilene, Breckenridge, Brownwood and Sweetwater campuses. “Also, this is the second year we have been up in participation numbers in the last five years. We continue to grow and the future looks bright.”

 

SkillsUSA is a professional organization teaching technical, academic and employability skills that help college students pursue successful careers. Members build these skills through student-led team meetings, contests, leadership conferences and other activities.

 

Registration continues for the fall semester at TSTC. For more information, log on to tstc.edu.

TSTC Alumna Keeping An Eye Out for Safety

(WACO) – A Texas State Technical College alumna recently transitioned into a new position aimed at keeping the campus safe.

Cindy Volney, 57, of Lorena began in late May as a Safety, Health and Environmental Affairs Officer. The position was created statewide a year ago with the first SHEA officer slot being filled at TSTC in Harlingen. Volney, the second person appointed to the job statewide, serves TSTC campuses in Waco, Marshall, North Texas and Williamson County.

Volney worked in Human Resources at TSTC in Waco before moving to her new position.

“I think she is going to do an amazing job,” said Human Resources Director III Kelly Contella. “Within Human Resources she has worked with the State Office of Risk Management and Texas Workforce Commission. She has already had the close connections on the safety side. I actually think she will have a lot of communication back to the Human Resources office and we will have many opportunities for partnerships to improve TSTC for employees.”

Volney will use TSTC’s Safety Program as a working guide, said Tom Hooker, executive director of Governance, Risk and Compliance.

Some of Volney’s goals include working with environmental health and safety students to provide internships for hands-on work conducting building inspections and safety meetings, writing inspection reports and other tasks. She said learning this work will help students once they graduate and move into jobs.

Volney wants to connect with safety officers chosen for each building who can find violations and give recommendations for corrections. She also wants to work closely with campus police and the state fire marshal.

“If people notice anything that is a hazard, we want them to report it and it will be investigated,” Volney said.

Volney is a graduate of Connally High School and attended McLennan Community College, both in Waco.

Her father, Bill Madden, attended what was then Texas State Technical Institute and studied air conditioning and refrigeration. She remembered living on campus with her family and going to the bowling alley, movie theater and family pool that once existed on the land that was Connally Air Force Base and that TSTC is now on.

She met her husband, Russell Volney, when he was a machinery student at TSTI. The two married and moved to Houston before returning to Central Texas.

Volney’s career has been in human resources with some safety and health aspects in the corporate and academic worlds since the late 1970s.

Volney’s former Human Resources supervisor Carrie Gayeske asked her what she would major in if she went back to college. Volney said it would be environmental health and safety, which began what she said was the often scary process of studying, attending classes and graduating in 2012 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Environmental Technology.

“There was no better accomplishment than to go through that program with honors,” Volney said.

Patti Tate, chair of the Environmental Health and Safety program, was impressed with Volney and her knowledge.

“She (Volney) was an excellent student who worked hard at honing her previous experience and learning the regulatory side of safety,” Tate said. “She is a strong advocate for TSTC, safety, and the environmental health and safety students.”

TSTC’s purpose has kept Volney working in Waco since the late 1990s.

“You have to believe in what we offer,” she said. “The students are leaving with good jobs.”

When she is not working, Volney enjoys spending time with her grandchild and traveling. Some of her favorite destinations are Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Western Slope of Colorado.

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