(ROSENBERG, Texas) – Texas State Technical College is known for its top-notch training and education programs across a variety of technical disciplines and industries. And that extends to beyond those students enrolled in the college. As a culmination of years of effort, TSTC’s Fort Bend County campus is providing the official training for those in NRG Energy’s Apprenticeship Program.
NRG apprentices spend time both in the field, working with full-fledged mechanics, journeymen and others, as well as in the classroom and labs, learning knowledge and techniques they need to succeed. It is this classroom and lab training that TSTC instructors are spearheading.
Jesus Ramirez, director of Workforce Training and Continuing Education at TSTC’s Fort Bend County campus, finds the program to be a good fit for both the college and NRG.
“We are currently in our third cohort, with about 20 students having come through,” Ramirez said. “TSTC was chosen to help provide the training because of our focus on hands-on work rather than solely classroom instruction.”
The apprenticeship program is a three-year, six-step program. Currently being trained is a group of apprentice electricians who are in the process of becoming certified journeymen and are less than a year out from finishing.
One of the students, Dezmond Holman, is grateful for the opportunity to train at TSTC.
“Being here and getting hands-on helps us understand everything we are learning in the classroom,” Holman said. “We really get to see what we will be working with in the field.”
When not in the classroom or lab, the apprentices are working in various NRG plants under the supervision of journeymen and maintenance technicians who have already been through the same program.
Jonathan Bonkoske, instructor in the Electrical Power and Controls program at TSTC’s Fort Bend County campus, is teaching the apprentice electricians.
“Our equipment and ability to provide a closer experience to what they will have in the field is what sets us apart,” Bonkoske said.
Registration for TSTC’s fall semester is open. For more information, go to tstc.edu.