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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TSTC’s partnership with Prosper Waco could grow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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