SkillsUSA students from TSTC’s Waco campus speak at BOAT conference in Fort Worth

(FORT WORTH, Texas) - The Building Officials Association of Texas (BOAT) hosted a group of students from Texas State Technical College's Waco campus for a session on SkillsUSA at the organization's annual conference on Thursday, Aug. 8, in Fort Worth.

The association's gathering was held at the Dallas/Fort Worth Marriott Hotel & Golf Club at Champions Circle.

SkillsUSA is a nonprofit professional organization teaching employability, leadership and technical skills that can help middle school, high school and college students pursue successful careers and be part of a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA has more than 100 leadership and technical competitions.

Five TSTC students took part in SkillsUSA on the state and national levels this year. Three students plan to participate in SkillsUSA in the upcoming academic year. The students represent the Building Construction Technology, Electrical Construction, and Plumbing and Pipefitting Technology programs.

William Morelock, an instructor in TSTC's Building Construction Technology program, traveled with the students to Fort Worth.

"It was great that the students came to see the support for them," Morelock said. "It's great for them to come and meet new contacts."

The TSTC students who have been participating in SkillsUSA said it has helped them start advancing toward their career goals.

"It (SkillsUSA) really helps me because it gives me leadership," said Chad Robertson, of Belton, a third-semester TSTC Building Construction Technology student who competed in Carpentry at this year's postsecondary state and national SkillsUSA leadership and skills conferences. "It teaches me how to lead and how to teach other people how to learn together and work together as a group."

Robertson said attending the BOAT conference has motivated him to learn building and construction codes more.

The event marked the first time that SkillsUSA had been featured at the BOAT annual meeting. TSTC graduate Bobby Horner, who is public information specialist for the city of Waco's Development Services - Planning and Inspection Division, led the effort to highlight the college and its involvement in SkillsUSA.

Horner has served for three years as technical chair of TeamWorks at the SkillsUSA Texas secondary leadership and skills conference. TeamWorks for the secondary and postsecondary levels involves two days of building a project involving carpentry, electrical, masonry and plumbing work.

Horner said BOAT members have a lot of knowledge that can be beneficial to students.

"We need to share that and teach them and help them as they get their careers off the ground," he said.

Van Tran, who is vice president of Plan Check and Inspections - Central and East Region at Bureau Veritas North America in Plano and also active in BOAT's career development component, said it is exciting to see the next generation of workers develop. He said discussions are going on between Horner and BOAT to get the organization more involved in SkillsUSA.

Also attending the conference from TSTC were this year's TeamWorks group made of Zacarias Felipe, of Graham, Joshua Lynn, of Waco, and Victor Flores and Hayden Mosley, of Belton, along with Building Construction Technology students William Hoekstra, of Waco, Wriley Madden, of Belton, and Jenny Rivera, of Austin.

For more information on SkillsUSA, go to skillsusa.org.

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

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