(WACO, Texas) – Area high school students and counselors traveled on Friday, Feb. 6, to Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus to learn about the Electrical Power and Controls program.
Students from the La Grange, Lorena, Robinson and West school districts met faculty members and learned about electrical design, lockout/tagout, power distribution, programmable logic controllers and safety. Students also learned about the job market for Electrical Power and Controls graduates.
Ryan Delgado, a program instructor, told visitors about circuit breaks along with amperage and voltage.
“Part of it is flashing lights and sensors and movement,” he said. “I think that really gets people excited. These devices are what save our systems.”
Steven Hugghins, a program instructor, said visiting with smaller groups of students enables him and other staff members to talk on a more personable level without being rushed.
Claudia McGlothen, a counselor at West High School, brought 10 seniors to the event. She said high school staff begin during students’ junior year getting them thinking about life after graduation. She said she hoped the visit to TSTC would enable students to see more career possibilities.
Twelve juniors and seniors from Robinson High School rode a yellow school bus to TSTC. Joi Jenkins, the high school’s administrator of college, career and military readiness, said her goal was to see the students think more about the postsecondary plans. She said a post-trip talk with the students will measure what they thought of the program and TSTC.
“TSTC is great because it is local,” Jenkins said.
TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Electrical Power and Controls at the Abilene, Fort Bend County, North Texas and Waco campuses.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.