(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.

(WACO, Texas) – Colton Machart said growing up in Shiner instilled the work ethic he has today.

“I was always outside,” he said. “I would haul hay in the summer, build fences and things like that.”

Machart received this month an Associate of Applied Science degree in Electrical Lineworker Technology at Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus. 

“It has been a long time coming, but I am happy that it is over,” he said. “It is a bittersweet moment. I made a lot of good friends at TSTC.”

Bobby Mitchell, lead instructor in TSTC’s Electrical Lineworker Technology program, admired Machart’s drive to play sports and become an Eagle Scout.

“He has chosen this field to make his career, and when someone with his previous accomplishments decides to do something, they usually get it done,” Mitchell said. “There is no doubt in my mind that he will be successful.”

Machart started this month as a power crew intern at Oncor in Round Rock. After a four-month probationary period, he hopes to become an apprentice, a step forward in becoming a journeyman lineman.

“I am excited, but everything is moving so fast that it is hard to take it all in,” he said. “I am definitely ready for the next chapter and to finally have a good job and go support myself.”

Machart is a graduate of St. Paul High School in Shiner. He played football at Abilene Christian University, where he was studying engineering and business when he realized an office job was not for him.

He moved back to Shiner and worked part time as a helper for a power line contracting company. He said he enjoyed being outdoors and working with his hands.

“That is when I realized I thoroughly enjoyed the field and everything that comes with it,” Machart said. “It is kind of like being on a team again, like how football was for me. You have everyone on the crew with a common goal, and everyone is working toward that goal.”

Machart knew about TSTC from friends who graduated from the Electrical Power and Controls program.

“The financial part of me wishes I would have started out sooner at TSTC, maybe right out of high school,” Machart said. “But at the same time, I would not be the person I am today if I had not gone to Abilene and then come to TSTC. I grew as a person.”

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

(WACO, Texas) – Janson Teal was exposed to the construction field early on as relatives built homes and managed projects.

Now Teal is forging his own path in the industry, thanks to Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus. This month he graduated from TSTC with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Building Construction Technology.

“I really enjoyed my time there,” Teal said. “I liked how it was smaller, and you can get more attention and better learning that way. It is a hands-on technical college.”

Teal said his favorite courses at TSTC dealt with blueprint reading, construction management and field engineering. The classes built the foundation for his job as an assistant project manager at Grinder Taber & Grinder Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee, where he began work in September.

“It has been pretty seamless,” Teal said. “They (his co-workers) have accepted me, and I really try to help out as much as I can and fit in where I can. It has gone really smoothly.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and his class schedule, Teal discovered he had three classes during the fall semester that would be offered totally online.

“I did not want to just sit in my apartment in Waco and take classes, so I started applying for jobs. And that is how I ended up in Memphis,” he said.

Herschel Miller, lead instructor in TSTC’s Building Construction Technology program in Waco, said Teal was eager to learn.

“He accepted challenges with open arms,” Miller said. “This was exceptionally true when the COVID-19 crisis took over. I also saw in Janson good mentoring skills for fellow classmates. The good traits I personally witnessed and saw in Janson will do nothing but benefit him in his life’s journeys in business. He will be a successful young man in whatever he chooses to do in life.”

Teal’s job involves working with contracts and estimates, visiting job sites and communicating with architects and building owners.

“You have to make sure nothing goes wrong and prevent wrong things happening,” he said. ‘You have to identify a future problem and get rid of it before it happens.”

The city of Lubbock, where Teal was born, factored into his choosing TSTC. He is a graduate of Abernathy High School in Abernathy.

“I was on a college visit,” he said. “I was at Texas Tech (in Lubbock) and I was trying to find something I would go to college for. I knew I was interested in construction. I started Googling construction schools and found TSTC, and I really liked it. It was hands-on, and you built things and learned things that way.”

Teal is not finished with his academic work. He plans to start an online bachelor’s degree in construction management at The University of Southern Mississippi in January.

“Once you figure out what you want to do, just go do it and do not be afraid, even if it means being different from everyone else,” Teal said.

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

(WACO, Texas) – Representatives of Texas State Technical College and L3Harris Technologies recently gathered to celebrate a new company employee at a recognition ceremony.

Tyler Rochelle, of Whitney, was hired by L3Harris as a computer numerical control machinist for its manufacturing department in Waco. He began in November as a part-time employee, but his work will increase to full time upon graduation this month from TSTC with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Precision Machining Technology.

“TSTC gave me all the fundamental knowledge to get started on the machines they have,” Rochelle said.

Jon Piatt, the company’s vice president and general manager, told Rochelle his skill set and desire to work will help him get where he wants to go in his career.

“You are coming in at a great time,” Piatt said at the ceremony.

Travis Beach, the company’s manufacturing manager, said Rochelle’s hiring signals a time of growth for the company as it secures new contracts. Recently the U.S. Air Force awarded the company a contract to design, produce and certify a state-of-the-art modernization solution for a fleet of 176 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130H aircraft and a U.S. Navy task order to provide planned maintenance services and in-service repairs on the U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J and T-model aircraft. 

Beach said the last time TSTC students were hired for manufacturing-type jobs at the company was in 2014.

“Hiring Tyler is a big deal,” said Beach, a TSTC graduate.

Jerome Mendias, TSTC’s associate provost, said the company can look to hire quality graduates from several of the college’s technical programs, including Aircraft Airframe Technology, Aircraft Powerplant Technology, Avionics Technology and Industrial Systems. 

Mendias called TSTC’s relationship with the company a natural fit because of the physical proximity to each other and the shared missions of excellence, integrity and service. He said the company is a good neighbor.

“We have a track record together,” Mendias said.

Rochelle thought about studying 3D animation and modeling when he was in high school, but he said he is not the type to sit at a desk for several hours at a time. He took a tour of TSTC when he was in high school, looked through the program list and found Precision Machining Technology.

“It honestly caught my eye,” he said. “This is the core of manufacturing with every product made.”

L3Harris is an international aerospace and defense technology company with 48,000 employees and customers in more than 100 countries. The company’s Waco facility specializes in aircraft modifications.

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