(WACO, Texas) – Four new schools are partnering this year with Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus to provide high school students opportunities to take dual enrollment classes.
Some students at Hubbard, Mart and Robinson high schools, along with St. Joseph Catholic Academy in Killeen, are taking online and hybrid classes in Architectural Design and Engineering Graphics Technology, Automotive Technology, Business Management Technology, Computer Programming, Cybersecurity, Digital Media Design, and Health Information Technology.
“The more school districts that participate with dual enrollment at TSTC, the more influence we have on those students and their peers on the great possibilities they have in their future if they choose to come to TSTC,” said Kadie Svrcek, TSTC’s executive director of dual enrollment.
The Hubbard Independent School District transports some Hubbard High School students to and from TSTC to take Automotive Technology classes, while other Hubbard High School students take Health Information Technology classes online at their home campus.
“The ultimate goal of our students taking dual enrollment classes is to see if one of these career paths is something they can see themselves doing in the future,” said Mindy Fuller, a secondary counselor at Hubbard ISD. “If it is, then these classes give the opportunity to get a head start on their career goals.”
Richard Pickens, lead instructor in TSTC’s Automotive Technology program at the Waco campus, said dual enrollment exposes high school students to what technical classes are like while they earn semester credit hours.
“High school students still have the desire, but on a different level,” he said. “They are still contemplating and searching for their career paths. Hopefully after graduating from high school, the student will attend TSTC and receive an associate degree.”
The Waco campus is working this year with 18 area high schools with more than 200 students taking dual enrollment classes through TSTC.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
