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(HARLINGEN, Texas) – As construction moves forward on the Applied Technologies Center at Texas State Technical College in Harlingen, instructors selected to lead its new programs are actively preparing to educate the next generation of skilled trades professionals. Alan Raith will serve as the new instructor for the Plumbing and Pipefitting Technology program starting this...

(ROSENBERG, Texas) – Learning never has to stop. Even those who can be considered masters in their field still need to challenge themselves and keep growing. That was how Adam Van Demark, an instructor in Texas State Technical College’s HVAC Technology program, felt when testing to earn the title of Certified Master HVACR (heating, ventilation,...

(ABILENE, Texas) – While construction continues on Texas State Technical College’s Power and Mechanical Center in Abilene, the people who will lead the new programs are preparing themselves to train the next wave of the state’s workforce. Alex DeLaGarza will be one of the instructors of the Diesel Equipment Technology program at the Abilene campus....

(MARSHALL, Texas) – On his first day as a Welding Technology instructor at Texas State Technical College’s Marshall campus 6 1/2 years ago, Philip Miller knew he was there to stay. “TSTC means quite a bit to me,” he recently said.  Miller has a history with the college. He graduated from TSTC’s Waco campus in...

(MARSHALL, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Marshall campus is getting ready for the upcoming fall semester, when the college’s Building Construction Technology program will open in East Texas. David Wines, a Building Construction Technology instructor at the Waco campus for three years, came to TSTC with almost 20 years of residential construction experience. Recently...

(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) – Apolinar and Joshua Ruiz share more than family ties in the Texas city of Donna. Apolinar Ruiz, now of Hutto, is the program team lead in the Precision Machining Technology program at Texas State Technical College’s Williamson County campus. He is a graduate of the same program at the college’s Harlingen...

(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Practicing safety is a key focus in many programs at Texas State Technical College. One program that emphasizes safety at TSTC’s Harlingen campus is Welding Technology. Industry trained welding instructors teach students safety in three key areas: the ironworker machine, scaffolding structure and welding station. An ironworker is an important tool in...

(SWEETWATER, Texas) – When Texas State Technical College students begin the spring semester, some new faces will welcome them to class. Over the past few months, TSTC has hired some new instructors in the Electromechanical Technology, Vocational Nursing and Wind Energy Technology programs. The Sweetwater campus also welcomed a new associate provost, Lance Eastman. “I...

(MARSHALL, Texas) – Victoria “Tori” Lynn jumped into the workforce after earning her general education diploma. She held several jobs before enrolling at Texas State Technical College, but they all had one thing in common. “Whether it was my job at the newspaper or my job at the vet or my job working at hotels,...

(BRECKENRIDGE, Texas) – Returning Texas State Technical College Welding Technology students noticed some different faces in the Breckenridge lab this semester. “They could not have been a better fit for us in Breckenridge,” Stephen Hope, TSTC’s program team lead for Welding Technology, said of new instructors Leroy Brigman and Jacob Gonzales. “It makes me emotional...

(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Navy veteran and Texas State Technical College alumnus Carlos Rodriguez is giving back to the college as a new aviation maintenance instructor at TSTC’s Harlingen campus with the goal of preparing students for future jobs as aircraft mechanics. “I’ve been on the job for a month,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve enjoyed teaching the...

(MARSHALL, Texas) – Long before he was an Industrial Systems instructor at Texas State Technical College, Clifton Woodgate was a Marine Corps aviation maintenance technician with Marine Helicopter Squadron One during the Reagan administration. Woodgate’s high score on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test had resulted in an offer for him to work on...

(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Surgical Technology students at Texas State Technical College’s Harlingen campus experience a rewarding medical education in preparation for their work in operating rooms. Their commitment takes on added significance during National Surgical Technologists Week, which is observed annually during the third week of September and was designated as such in 1984 by...

(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Texas State Technical College Biomedical Equipment Technology instructor Oziel Capetillo is gratified that his 25 years of industry experience in the electronics and medical fields have helped lead graduates to career success. “This is my sixth year teaching in the program,” Capetillo said. “It’s important that students grasp hands-on training. I’ve seen...

(HUTTO, Texas) – Changing the lives of Texans is a family business for Duane Davis and his daughter Audrey Davis.  Duane Davis recently retired after spending the past two years as an HVAC Technology instructor at Texas State Technical College’s East Williamson County campus in Hutto.  Last year he convinced Audrey Davis to join the...

(MARSHALL, Texas) – More than 500 students have enrolled at Texas State Technical College’s Marshall campus for the fall semester. The instructors and staff are looking forward to another successful academic year. After an extended period of teaching third-semester students, Welding Technology instructor Asa Goolsbee is eager to teach first-semester students. “The one thing I...

(ROSENBERG, Texas) – After spending 28 years in the chemical manufacturing industry as a safety specialist, Hari Pillai was looking for a change of pace. Having taught a few courses on safety while working at UTHealth Houston, he knew he had a passion for teaching. During his job search, he was pulled toward Texas State...

(HUTTO, Texas) – National Dapper Your Data Day is an annual event on July 18 that raises awareness about cybersecurity and protecting personal information on devices. More than 353 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2023, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, with more than 349 million of those victims the result...

(MARSHALL, Texas) – Three Texas State Technical College graduates, Ivy Delong, Amy Gonzales and Jamie Thompson, proved that the path to success can be found even in the hardest of times and now are instructors for the college’s Chemical Dependency Counseling program. Connie Schaaf, director of alignment and program team lead for the program, said...

(MARSHALL, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Health Information Technology program can be seen as the cybersecurity of health care. “We’re behind the scenes in health care,” Sarah Brooks, TSTC’s interim director of alignment for Health Information Technology, said. “We take care of patients by ensuring that patient information is accessible when needed and keeping...

(ROSENBERG, Texas) – There is a lot to learn from those who came before. Texas State Technical College often hires instructors who have experience working in their respective fields for that exact reason. But even they are standing on the shoulders of those who preceded them. For Andrea Skinner-Creeks, lead instructor for the Occupational Safety...

(MARSHALL, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Electrical Lineworker and Management Technology instructors know that lineworkers will be needed as long as there are natural disasters.  Before coming to teach at the Marshall campus, several of the instructors traveled all over the United States helping to restore power after some powerful storms. In his 30...

(ROSENBERG, Texas) – Deogratias Nizigiyimana understands the value of hard work. The lead instructor for the Precision Machining Technology program at Texas State Technical College’s Fort Bend County campus, Nizigiyimana says his love of doing a good job came when his high school teacher quoted Martin Luther King Jr. “Any job is invaluable,” Nizigiyimana said....

(HARLINGEN, Texas) – For Mark Braswell, it was like coming home when he returned to Texas State Technical College’s Harlingen campus to teach Surgical Technology after working as a surgical technician at St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital in San Antonio. Braswell graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Surgical Technology from TSTC in 2009....

(HARLINGEN, Texas) – The sun was gleaming and a cold January breeze made its presence felt across South Texas, including at Texas State Technical College’s Harlingen campus where more than 2,220 students began the spring 2024 semester on Monday, Jan. 8. The new year brings a focused mindset not only to TSTC students who have...

(MARSHALL, Texas) – The instructors and staff of Texas State Technical College’s Marshall campus dedicate themselves to the school and their students by working to reach the college’s goal of placing more Texans in great-paying jobs. For some of them, the work does not stop at 5 p.m. It simply changes. Veronique Ramirez, a Student...

(WACO, Texas) – Kyler Valenta is back in a familiar place. Valenta, of Waco, graduated in 2019 from Texas State Technical College’s Instrumentation Technology program and quickly went to work at Formosa Plastics Corp., Texas in Point Comfort as an instrumentation technician specializing in analyzer systems. Earlier this year, Valenta made a career change and...

(MARSHALL, Texas) – The instructors and staff at Texas State Technical College’s Marshall campus are there because they believe in the school’s mission. In more personal cases, some of them want to offer students the same high-quality education that they were given at the college. Terri Dreesen, a TSTC enrollment coach and winner of a...

(SWEETWATER, Texas) – Chris Pittman, Texas State Technical College’s newest Diesel Equipment Technology instructor at the Sweetwater campus, noticed that what he was doing while working in the oil field could apply to the field of education. “I worked mainly as a supervisor teaching new mechanics. I decided I should do it full time and...

(RED OAK, Texas) – Tyson Skinner, an alumnus of Texas State Technical College’s Drafting and Design program, recently returned to TSTC’s North Texas campus to become an instructor in the same program. Skinner graduated from TSTC three years ago with an Associate of Applied Science degree and has been working in the drafting and design...