Six scholarship recipients join TSTC’s Process Operations program

(MARSHALL, Texas) – Eastman Chemical Co. in Longview, a producer of chemical and polymer products, awarded 16 high school seniors with technical scholarships to attend one of the six Eastman partner technical colleges. Six recipients selected Texas State Technical College’s Process Operations program offered exclusively at the Marshall campus.

Marcus Hooper, a learning services technologist who has been employed with Eastman Chemical Co. for 19 years, said the company partners with local high schools in awarding seniors $2,000 scholarships.

“We try to select candidates for the scholarships that identify with our safety and core values and try to recruit a good, solid, diverse, highly-qualified student population for the future,” Hooper said.

Scholarship recipients are encouraged to apply for a paid internship with Eastman Chemical Co. between their first and second years of college. A successful internship may reward students with more scholarship opportunities, Hooper said.

The TSTC Foundation partners with Eastman Chemical Co. in awarding annual scholarships. Hooper serves on the TSTC Marshall Council of Advocates and Process Operations advisory board, enabling the company to offer internships to Process Operations students. 

Erica Griffin, a former TSTC Process Operations instructor and former employee of Eastman Chemical Co., received the same scholarship as a high school senior. Though she now works as a program team lead for TSTC, opportunities offered to Process Operations students are still important to her.

“As a former Eastman employee and recipient of a scholarship for process technology, it brings me great joy to know that the students are able to see the importance of education, but also Eastman’s dedication to aiding in the development of the future workforce,” Griffin said.

TSTC student Lazabion Bledsoe, of Carthage, is one of the students who received the scholarship after being encouraged to apply. He recently applied for an internship with the company.

“I can go to school here for a couple of years and then there will be jobs lined up to make good money,” Bledsoe said. “Earning the Eastman scholarship gets you in contact with good people to know in the industry.”

Bledsoe plans to receive his Associate of Applied Science degree in fall 2025.

For more information about TSTC, go to tstc.edu.