Category Archives: Waco

TSTC Earns Medals at Aviation Competition

(WACO) – Texas State Technical College’s flight team finished a challenging week at the National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s Region 4 SAFECON held Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 at the TSTC Waco Airport.

“When a college has a flight team, it is made of their best students,” said Carson Pearce, TSTC’s statewide director of the Transportation Division.

Bobby Musacchio, 19, a TSTC Aircraft Pilot Technology major from Ponder scheduled to graduate with an associate degree in summer 2018, competed in his first SAFECON. He placed in the top 10 in Aircraft Recognition.

“It’s been a good experience,” Musacchio said. “I’ve been learning new things. I’ve been able to connect with students from other schools. It’s made me want to improve my skills and get me focused on what I need to do.”

He said his favorite event was Aircraft Recognition, which involved looking at photographs of parts of all kinds of airplanes. Musacchio said he and his teammates prepared for the contest by taking practice tests and in-depth studying of the shapes and features of aircrafts.

After graduating from TSTC, Musacchio said he wants to become a flight instructor and hopes to fly for commercial airlines.

TSTC students placing in the top five of individual events and receiving medals were:

Aircraft Preflight Inspection: Mallory Frister, fifth place.

Navigation: Caleb Gober and J.C. Horne, fifth place.

Short Field Landing: Stephanie Hughes, fifth place.

Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation: Richard Rensing, fifth place.

TSTC finished third in the Ground Events Championship.

Other schools that competed were Central Texas College, Delta State University, LeTourneau University and Louisiana Tech University.

Delta State University won the Competition Safety Award and Red Baron Team Sportsmanship Award.

LeTourneau University won the competition, with Delta State University placing second and Central Texas College finishing third. These teams will go to the 2018 SAFECON in the spring in Indiana.

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

TSTC Student Q&A with Jessica Ogden of Hico

(WACO) – Jessica Ogden, 20, of Hico is an Aircraft Pilot Training major at Texas State Technical College in Waco.

She is captain of the technical college’s Tornadoes Flight Team, which recently competed in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s Region 4 SAFECON contest hosted in Waco. She was a member of TSTC’s all-women Air Race Classic team that competed nationwide in 2016. Ogden is scheduled to graduate in December with an associate degree.

She graduated in 2015 from Hico High School.

How did you become interested in aviation? “My grandfather had a family friend who was a pilot in the Korean War. He had a Cessna and took me for a ride in it when I was 6. From then on I knew I wanted to be in aviation.”

How did you learn about TSTC? “I came here with a friend as he was visiting the Diesel Equipment Technology program. That is when I found out about the aviation programs and I saw the building (the Col. James T. Connally Aerospace Center). I am the first in my family to study aviation.”

What is something you have learned along the way that would be good for high school students to know? “You need to be confident. The moment you are not confident in your abilities, that’s the moment you fail.”

What are your plans after graduating from TSTC? “I have interviewed with TSTC and hope to be a flight instructor. I’ll also work on more flight ratings through the technical college and get my bachelor’s degree.”

There were more than 39,000 female pilots in the United States as of December 2016, according to Federal Aviation Administration data cited by Women in Aviation International.

Texas State Technical College offers the Associate of Applied Science degree in Aircraft Pilot Training and Aircraft Pilot Training – Helicopter Specialization. There is also an option to earn a Certificate in Aircraft Pilot Technology Commercial Pilot – Helicopter.

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

 

TSTC Volunteers Create Dog Toys for Shelter Animals

(HUTTO) – Students at the East Williamson County Higher Education Center made chew toys for dogs last week as part of a volunteer event for Make a Difference Day.

Make a Difference Day is one of the largest annual days of service nationwide. The day aims to improve the lives of others, and Texas State Technical College hosted the event for students to give back to the community.

TSTC was able to donate 53 dog toys to the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter.

“It’s a win-win, as students were treated to a service project and food and we provided a valuable service to a community partner,” said TSTC Provost Edgar Padilla. “We are proud to have that component as part of our mission at TSTC.”

Adele Clinton, TSTC’s Executive Director of Student Life, said students have shown an interest in service projects over the last few years.

“They love it,” Clinton said. “When the students engage in community service, they’re learning communication skills, teamwork skills, conflict resolution, and they’re getting TSTC’s name out to communities who may not know that we’re right in their backyards. It’s also teaching students that volunteerism has been so much fun.”

TSTC began participating in Make a Difference Day at the Harlingen campus in 2008 but has recently added the volunteer projects at its other campuses.

“Since I became a state lead and TSTC became one, we’ve taken it statewide and our numbers have increased exponentially ever since,” Clinton said.

Padilla said he hopes to continue these types of projects at the school.

“At TSTC, we understand that our success depends on the support and viability of our local communities,” said Padilla. “We believe in service and understand that we’re part of a business community that is vibrant and interconnected. It’s our goal to continue to grow by cultivating relationships and showing that we care, and I’m exceptionally proud to be part of a team that takes so much pride in doing so.”

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

 

90 Employers Visit TSTC for Industry Career Day

(WACO) – More than 90 employers visited Texas State Technical College Thursday for its annual Industry Career Day event, with nearly 650 job-seeking students in attendance.

Kacey Darnell, executive director of Talent Management and Career Services at TSTC, said the event gives students a chance to get to know employers.

“Industry Career Day gives employers a chance to show off their company,and it gives the students a chance to get a really great job,” Darnell said. “A lot of times students don’t know what kind of jobs companies offer. Last spring we had an Avionics student who came to Industry Career Day and ended up working for a company called True North Marine repairing the sonar equipment on the marine boats. It’s something that aligns but is totally different than what he was expecting, and he’s done really well.”

One company in attendance, the cosmetics company Mary Kay, has participated in TSTC’s Industry Career Day for five years. The company, which manufactures its own products, hires graduates to work on their production equipment.

“We currently offer an internship to hire, which is basically a 90-day probation period where they’re truly doing packaging mechanic work,” said Mary Kay associate HR business partner Nelissa Croach. “They do preventative maintenance and run their own lines, making sure the speed of the line is accurate. Some of the machines go 30 products a minute, where others are 137 products a minute. They have to make sure they’re able to program the machines to do those things. Also if there’s a jam, they have to figure it out and get it going.”

Croach said TSTC’s training aligns well with the knowledge of their longtime employees.

“A lot of the people we have there have been there for 20 plus years and haven’t been recently trained on the new technology,” she said. “So we have these guys coming in along with our long-term employees, and together it works out really well.”

Joe Razza, regional recruiter at Crown Lift Trucks, said the company often visits TSTC’s campuses to recruit those with electronics and mechanical backgrounds.

“We take those skills, hone them and put them through training to apply that to our technology,” Razza said. “We’ve had great success, and the caliber of students is great as well. The students, as far as professionalism goes, the questions they ask, how they present themselves and their knowledge base is off the charts.”

Darnell said she often sees TSTC alumni coming back to recruit.

“We have a lot of alumni representing their companies here,” she said. “They know the training they got from TSTC, and they know they can find skilled workers here.”

Sean Shannon, an Industrial Maintenance student who graduates in December, said this is his third Industry Career Day with TSTC.

“I ran out of resumes,” he said. “I had an on-the-spot interview, so it’s looking good. This is the biggest one I’ve been to. I think they’re going to run out of room here soon!”

Part of TSTC’s mission is to meet the workforce needs of Texas, and the college places a high importance on placing students and graduates in jobs. For more information on Texas State Technical College and the college’s placement efforts, visit tstc.edu.

TSTC Honors Former Texas Representative with Building Dedication

(RED OAK) – The work that James R. “Jim” Pitts did while a member of the Texas House of Representatives is solidified for future students that walk through the building now bearing his name at Texas State Technical College in North Texas.

The Jim Pitts Industrial Technology Center was formally dedicated Thursday morning at a plaque unveiling ceremony attended by Waxahachie and Ellis County leaders along with TSTC administrators and staff members.

Pitts said he appreciated the honor and that TSTC in North Texas is in a great location in proximity to the Dallas – Fort Worth area.

“I’m thrilled to see something you dreamed about become a reality,” Pitts said.

Pitts was a Republican member of the state House of Representatives representing House District 10 from 1993 to 2015 and was chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations. He was named one of the state’s 10 Best Legislators by Texas Monthly magazine in 2005, 2009 and 2013.

“I miss the legislature and I miss doing good things for Ellis County,” Pitts said.

TSTC Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer Mike Reeser said he first met Pitts during the 2013 Texas legislative session. Pitts told him he had a goal of bringing technical education to the county’s residents to become contributing members of the workforce.

During the session, Pitts introduced legislation that was sponsored by Sen. Brian Birdwell authorizing the creation of a TSTC extension center in Ellis County. The extension center evolved in less than a year into today’s stand-alone campus. After a land deal with the Red Oak Independent School District, the building on North Lowrance Road formally opened in October 2014 and now houses the technical college’s 10 programs.

“He is your neighbor,” Reeser told ceremony attendees. “You had a guy who went to Austin and fought for your best interests in Ellis County.”

Pitts is a former member of the Waxahachie Independent School District Board of Trustees. He is an attorney and owner of Ellis County Abstract and Title Company in Waxahachie.

After the ceremony, The TSTC Foundation hosted a luncheon and visitors took building tours.

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

 

TSTC’s New Program Offers Student a New Life

(FORT BEND) – Jerry Nieto is one of the first students in Electrical Power and Controls, a program in its first semester at the Texas State Technical College Fort Bend County campus.

Originally from Brownsville, Nieto first enrolled at the TSTC Harlingen campus in 2001 to pursue an associate degree in what was then Drafting and Design Technology.

Although he completed his classes and the job offers flooded in, Nieto never registered for graduation and never received his associate degree. Immediately after this he moved to New York with his sisters and never looked back.

“I sometimes wish I could turn back time and give my young self a pep talk,” said Nieto. “I don’t know what I was thinking back then. I could have had a stable, good-paying career. But I can only move forward now.”

Life altogether has not been bad for Nieto. He held onto a successful car sales job In New York before moving to Houston and going into business with his father-in-law. However, neither gig was something he could see himself doing long-term.

So, after nine years, Nieto and his father-in-law sold their fiber-optic cable business and Nieto started making calls to TSTC’s Harlingen campus wondering if it was too late to get his associate degree.TSTC EPC Student Jerry Nieto

“Time moves on and things change, but I figured it was worth the try,” he said.

Well, with nearly a decade gone by, some of Nieto’s credits didn’t count anymore and he would have to take new classes. Basically, starting all over.

“TSTC was great to me once, so I knew if I was going to start anywhere, it was going to be at TSTC,” said Nieto. “Lucky for me the Fort Bend County campus opened, because I am back.”

Barely reaching the halfway point in his first semester, Nieto said the Electrical Power and Control program is already exceeding his expectations.

“I’m a husband and father now with a different mindset,” he said. “I’m ready to learn. I understand the importance of an education and I’m ready for a new career.”

Nieto added he now understands the importance an education can have on his life and the opportunities TSTC provides for its students.

“Not only are classes hands-on, but our instructors are leaders in industry with extensive experience,” said Nieto. “That has to be appreciated, because that’s what gets students far.”

TSTC Electrical Power and Control Instructor Jonathan Bonkoske spent more than 30 years in the industry working in power distribution, electrical power and motor research and design.

In August, he made the jump to teaching to share his knowledge with students like Nieto and to help give them insight into the industry.

“Nieto is one of my students who I know has life experience and is eager to learn,” said Bonkoske. “I know it’s early into the semester, but seeing him work hard and jumping into his projects like he is, lets me know that he has a bright future. He has all of the qualities an employer looks for.”

Bonkoske said his goal is to share his experience with all of his students and teach them the hands-on skills they need to be placed in a good-paying job that will help build their career.

And as for Nieto, he said his goal is to learn as much as he can from Bonkoske and his peers, graduate with his associate degree and find a career that will help him support his family.

“This time around I’m taking advantage of everything TSTC has to offer me and I’m going to make the most of it,” he said. “I know they’ll give me the confidence I need to be one of the best in the industry.”

Electrical Power and Controls is also offered at TSTC’s North Texas and Waco campuses. For more information visit, tstc.edu.

TSTC Host Third Annual Counselor Update

(FORT BEND) – More than 70 high school counselors from across the Gulf Coast region, as far away as Goliad, attended Texas State Technical College’s Third Annual Counselor Update at its Fort Bend County campus on Friday.

The half-day program offered counselors a first-hand look into the technologies and services TSTC has to offer with a tour of the campus, including its newest building, the Brazos Center.

TSTC Director of Recruitment Dora Colvin said the goal of the update is to educate counselors on the importance of a technical education and what TSTC has to offer Fort Bend County and surrounding areas with its new campus.

“We are a fully accredited technical institution with passionate staff and faculty ready to provide an education that leads to a successful career,” said Colvin. “And we need the counselors to help us by taking information back to their students and parents about our campus and programs, so they can make an informed decision.”

3rd Annual TSTC Counselor Update

Throughout the day counselors were introduced to TSTC’s recruitment team, programs, certification and degree plans, admission processes and student eligibility requirements.

And TSTC Admissions, Dual Enrollment and Financial Aid set up resource tables for the counselors to visit with representatives from each department.

Madalina Noth, a counselor at Hastings High School from outside Houston said this is her second year participating in TSTC’s Counselor Update because she loved it so much the first time she decided to return.

“This is an excellent event that many of us look forward to,” she said. “A lot of my students have enrolled at TSTC and what they are doing for our area is great. I believe in the power of a technical education and what TSTC has to offer.”

Counselors were also treated to a lunch catered by TSTC Culinary Arts graduate Ben Pustejovsky, owner of the popular Ben’s Chuckwagon in Wallis, Texas.

Other activities included a student and departmental faculty lead panel representing the 10 programs offered at the campus with a question and answer session for the counselors.

“I’ve been working closely with TSTC for some time now and what I love is the passion that everyone on campus exudes. You can tell they love what they do and that’s how I know it’s an excellent place to send my students,” said Noth.

TSTC Student Recruitment Coordinator Marigold Sagrado said she hopes this update will give counselors a better understanding of what TSTC offers and will establish a long-term collaboration between TSTC and the surrounding school districts.

“We want to continue growing our partnerships in the area so that we can serve our community the best way we can, and that is to provide the technical training needed to helps students succeed and place more Texans, she said.

Colvin added that the she is thankful for what counselors do every day for their students and the college.

“Many times these counselors encourage students to enroll at TSTC, but most of all to go to college in general,” she said. “They do a lot and we appreciate them.”

For more information on the programs offered at TSTC, visit tstc.edu.

International Visitors Tour TSTC Radiation Protection Program

 

(WACO) – Twenty visitors from 10 countries toured several instructional programs at Texas State Technical College on Wednesday, Oct. 25, as part of a joint collaboration between TSTC and the Nuclear Power Institute at Texas A&M University that began in 2007.

The visitors are industry professionals representing a variety of international government organizations and institutions of higher learning.

The one-day stop at TSTC was part of an International Atomic Energy Agency interregional training course designed to familiarize participants with the physics and technology behind water-cooled nuclear reactors.

Jacob Navar, TSTC Radiation Protection Technology instructor, led a campus tour that included the radiation lab and the Welding Technology and Electrical Power and Controls programs.

“My goal is to facilitate relationships and education about radiation protection,” Navar said. “It’s helpful for them to come and learn about it so they can take back what they have learned.”

Navar gave the participants a short history of TSTC and the Radiation Protection program before introducing Adam Hutchison, provost of TSTC’s Waco campus.

“What you’re experiencing today on this campus is not only a Texas partnership with our local legislature and institutions like Texas A&M, but it’s truly a global partnership,” Hutchison told the attendees. “The skills that we teach our students we hope prepare them for the world of work no matter where they are. We can serve the state of Texas and truly the entire world with the training the students get here.”

Mamadou Kanoute, a visitor from Senegal’s Ministry of Energy, voiced his excitement at visiting TSTC and seeing equipment firsthand.

“I’m delighted to be here at TSTC,” he said. “I’m a nuclear engineer. I am very happy because I have only seen (this) equipment in video. This is very useful to me because I can see the equipment in person. I will go back and inform the ministry about all I have seen. I want to send students from my country so they can study here.”

Texas District 56 Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson was also in attendance to welcome the group.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas has the second most Environmental Science and Protection Technicians in the nation, with O*Net Online reporting that the state’s percentage of jobs in the field is expected to grow by 22 percent through 2024.

The Nuclear Power Institute is a unique statewide partnership led by the Texas Engineering Experiment Station and headquartered at Texas A&M.

For more information on TSTC, visit tstc.edu.

TSTC Hosts Women in Technology Day

(WACO) – Sylvia Howard, 14, visited Texas State Technical College for the first time Thursday.
And, she was pleased with what she saw.
“It was good,” said Howard, a freshman Project Link student at La Vega High School. “I learned about computers and how to use them. I enjoyed working with the video games. Definitely, college is in my future.”
Howard was among several Project Link students from La Vega, University and Waco high schools to attend TSTC’s Women in Technology Day. They were among more than 250 females from area high schools seeing firsthand several technical career possibilities, from Avionics Technology to Visual Communication Technology.
“We had a successful event, and this was probably one of the biggest crowds at a Women in Technology Day,” said Angela Evilia, assistant director of TSTC’s Advisement Center and an event organizer.
TSTC faculty members and students gave tours and worked alongside the high school visitors with hands-on demonstrations. In Building Construction Technology, students worked with premade wood carvings and learned tool safety while the visit to Aviation Maintenance consisted of stepping into the cockpit of a parked jet on the flight line at the technical college’s airport.
Skylar Shaw, 17, a senior at Oglesby High School in Coryell and McLennan counties, said she enjoyed seeing the possibilities of nontraditional careers for women. Shaw said she liked her visit to the Electrical Power and Controls program, where she learned about wiring.
“It got me out of my bubble,” she said.
For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.

 

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TSTC Q&A with Jennifer Dickman of China Spring

(WACO) – Jennifer Dickman, 24, of China Spring is an Avionics Technology major at Texas State Technical College.

She enrolled at TSTC in January and is scheduled to graduate in summer 2018 with an associate degree.

Dickman grew up in Newburgh, New York and graduated in 2011 from Newburgh Free Academy. She spent five years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

How did you become interested in the military? “I always admired a person in uniform. Growing up, I was drawn to military members.”

What was your job in the Marine Corps? “I was an aviation electrician for F18s. It was something I got put into. I worked on the flight line, where I did troubleshooting and a lot of harnessing. I would also check the aircraft before taking off.”

How did you learn about TSTC? “I recently moved to China Spring because my husband is in the Marine Corps as a recruiter in Hewitt. I was in a slump and I wrote on a veterans help page on Facebook. A Navy veteran messaged me and said with my background and being a woman and a minority that I should get my education. She looked up colleges in the area and told me about TSTC and the Avionics Technology program. I am using the GI Bill to go to college.”

How do you like studying Avionics Technology? “A lot of what I have noticed is component-based. It’s more in-depth learning here. If I didn’t do an electronics field in the Marine Corps, I would have had trouble having a technical mind. It would have been a cultural shock.”

Do you work on campus? “I am a work-study in the Veteran Center in the Student Services Center. I get to work with veterans and have a commonality that a lot of people don’t get to share.”

What advice would you give to women thinking of studying in a technology field? “Reach out to people currently in the field. It’s something doable and something to learn. It’s something that changes all the time and it’s a great chance for a career.”

The number of avionics technicians is expected to grow nationally to 17,500 jobs through 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Texas had 1,890 avionics technicians as of May 2016 with an average mean wage of $57,800. Avionics jobs in Texas are centered in the Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio areas, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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