Category Archives: Community

Teaching Students to Succeed

Partners Angie Moreno and Janie Garza Reyes started Advanced College & Hair Design in Weslaco 30 years ago.

Going from one classroom to another, Janie Garza Reyes gives a tour of a barber school that started with a handful of chairs 30 years ago, and is now the largest school of its type in the Rio Grande Valley – and one of the largest in Texas. “We opened this school from zero,” Reyes said, referring to the longtime partnership between herself and Angie Moreno in starting and building…

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UTRGV Hosts STEM Symposium For Latinas

NSF INCLUDES Symposium for ADVANCING Latinas in STEM Academic Careers

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will host the NSF INCLUDES Symposium for ADVANCING Latinas in STEM Academic Careers on May 16-17 at The Pearl South Padre Resort. The event will address best practices and lessons to enhance successful STEM careers, This is the first part of a two-part series on Latinas in STEM academic careers. The series addresses how work-life issues, policies/practices, mentoring and climate affect their pathways/pipelines, recruitment, retention and…

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IBC Bank Teaches Children Financial Literacy

IBC Bank-McAllen employees are spending this spring using their professional expertise to teach local students the fundamentals of financial literacy. McAllen is joining IBCs across Texas and Oklahoma partaking in Financial Literacy Month and the American Bankers Association’s Teach the Children to Save initiative. IBC Bank-McAllen is providing 17 presentations to a total of 300 students. The presentations include real-life exercises like paying a mortgage, buying groceries and budgeting for emergencies. Bank…

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Excellence in the Making

First-place winners Ulises Guerrero and Anel Cuarenta of Sharyland High School

They came. They competed. They won. Regional high school student teams recently participated in the BBVA inaugural Young Entrepreneur of the RGV Challenge, culminating in an awards ceremony April 30. There was a selection and awarding of competition winners, but all 19 groups are in a league of their own. Working together on a business plan and other crucial elements, presenting before a distinguished, local team of successful business leaders and…

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Curtain Call for Old Theater

Weslaco’s iconic concrete water tower rises above the original ground water storage building that now serves as a community theater. (VBR)

There was a time that the round, domed building with 12-inch-thick concrete walls stored much of Weslaco’s water supply. But for almost half a century, the historic structure has served as a community theater. Now, following a renovation with the help of the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation, the Tower Theater has a new lease on life. Constructed in 1928, the ground-level water storage facility was replaced in 1941 by the…

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Youth Apprenticeship Open for Business

Youth Apprenticeship Program

The McAllen Youth Apprenticeship Program is inviting local businesses to participate. An offering from the McAllen Chamber, South Texas College and McAllen Independent School District, the program offers apprenticeships and work to high school juniors and seniors. A vehicle for talent development to meet future workforce needs, the program serves as a recruitment pipeline. Potential employees can also be molded and trained to a business’s specifications. The Chamber, STC and MISD…

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ERO Architects Contributes To Valley Scholars

Representatives from ERO Architects and South Texas College came together for a check presentation April 22. Funds will benefit Valley Scholar students. (photo STC)

A gift of $5.000 is going to the South Texas College Valley Scholars program from ERO Architects. The firm and college came together recently for a check presentation, confirming ERO Architect’s role as a Diamond sponsor for the program’s annual “Night with the Stars” gala. Fittingly, the site of the check presentation was STC’s new Nursing and Allied Health Building B. The four-story addition was designed by ERO Architects. Principal and…

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Multiple Harlingen Entities Receive TWC Grants

Three grants will benefit workers in the Workforce Solutions Cameron area thanks to the Texas Workforce Commission. Workforce Solutions Cameron, in collaboration with Harlingen Economic Development Corporation, receives the $49,900 High Demand Job Training grant. A Skills Development Fund grant of $155,721 goes to Texas State Technical College – Harlingen, in partnership with a manufacturing consortium. The final grant, a $116,412 Jobs and Education for Texans, grant is for the Harlingen Consolidated Independent…

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McAllen Student to Participate in NASA program

Mia Cano, a junior of the Lamar Academy/IB Programme in McAllen, has been selected to travel to NASA’s Johnson Space Center this summer to participate in the High School Aerospace Scholars program. Cano is one of 270 high school juniors from across Texas to be part of this unique NASA program. The selection of students comes after individual nominations from state legislators. During the school year, select students completed a 16-week…

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STC Offers College Credit Via Homeland Security

A new agreement on April 24 between STC and federal law enforcement agencies will include expansion and development of educational pathways for federal agencies’ graduates within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

On April 24, South Texas College announces its official partnership with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers and three U.S. Homeland Security agencies. These will be the federal agencies’ first college credit partnership training agreements in the state of Texas.  The ceremony will formalize the Memorandum of Understanding agreements with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, the U.S. Field Operations Academy and the U.S. Border Patrol Academy. These agreements expound how…

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