HS staff gets look at college programs

By GABRIEL CANTU
TSTC Communications Specialist

HARLINGEN, TX—Texas State Technical College recently welcomed around 20 high school counselors and career and technical education teachers from across the Rio Grande Valley to immerse themselves in some of the college’s technologies and hands-on labs during TECHcelerate, a three-day technical education conference held at TSTC’s Harlingen campus.

Kadie Svrcek, TSTC’s statewide dual enrollment executive director, said TECHcelerate was designed to bring better awareness of how a technical education at TSTC can lead to good job opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley and across the state.

“What we teach at TSTC supports local industries and gets more graduates hired in the Texas workforce,” she said. “This technical education needs to begin with younger age groups because there is a skills gap in Texas. Having this conference for career and technical educators is an ideal starting point to get that message across.”

Alex Salinas, a higher education coordinator at San Benito High School, said participating in each program’s hands-on training was engaging.

“I definitely enjoyed our visit to the Electrical Lineworker program,” he said. “When they asked for volunteers, I wanted to put myself in their (the students’) shoes. I wanted to experience what a professional lineman does for a living. Now I can elaborate in detail about my experience at TSTC with the students at San Benito High School.”

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