Connection January/February 2024
In this Issue …
Former Mattel Toy Executive Delivers Fall Commencement Address........................................................3
Women of Color Hosts Events.......4
Timken Foundation Supports CDL at Watkins Center........................6
Technical Career Pathways Program Celebrates Decade of Success TCTC and its business and education partners on February 2 celebrated 10 years of success of the Technical Career Pathways (TCP) program. Workforce development is just one of the many advantages of the program that since its inception in the 2013-2014 academic year has provided high school students with a clear path to a debtfree education that prepares them for careers in manufacturing. The initial goal of the TCP program Instructor Mark Franks, right, poses with Technical Career was to develop a pipeline of individuals Pathways students. who are skilled and ready to fill indemand jobs at manufacturing facilities across the Upstate. TCP began with seven students from Crescent High School and has grown to hundreds of students each year at all 16 high schools in Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties. Over the past decade, the program has grown from one pathway—basic electronics—to eight pathways: Business Administration; Computer and Information Technology; CNC Programming and Operations; Emergency Medical Technology; Engineering Systems Technology; Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning; Mechatronics; and Welding. Crystal Lopez, a Pendleton High School senior and TCP Welding student, is proud to say she will receive a college credential before her high school graduation. She plans to enter TCTC and earn an associate degree before joining the U.S. Air Force. “Thank you, faculty and counselors, for introducing me to this wonderful program,” she said. “TCP is a great success story,” said former Rep. Brian White, who told the group that one of his proudest moments in serving Anderson County’s District 6 for 21 years in the South Carolina House of Representatives was helping to create the pathways project that paved the way for under-resourced individuals to earn college credit that leads to self-sustaining careers. White spearheaded the legislation that paved the way for TCP to be fully funded by the state. “Many students served through TCP may never have considered attending college, much less beginning college while in high school. But these pathways have broken down barriers and made a college education possible,” said President Galen DeHay. “TCP is effective because—like all of our dual enrollment offerings—it is accessible, affordable, transferable and supportive.”
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