WACO, Texas — Two longtime employees at Texas State Technical College's Waco campus were honored with one of the school's most prestigious awards on Monday, Nov. 11, per a release. Both women grew up in Waco.
Waco natives Amanda Molina, Director of Visual Communications, and Christy Sais, Associate Manager for Enrollment and Admissions, received the Chancellor's Cornerstone Award. Molina and Sais have a combined 18 years of experience at TSTC.
Molina and Sais both attended University High School in Waco before attending TSTC.
Molina started her career in news stations across Texas, including KXXV in Waco, WFAA in Dallas and KBTX in Bryan-College Station. She returned to her Waco roots in 2019, joining TSTC and growing the video and photography staff to six employees while making sure the staff had the most updated equipment.
“Now, with artificial intelligence, we are going to get more efficient and are going to be able to do things that you would typically hire a production company to do,” Molina said.
According to the press release, Molina's faith and the chance to work with an empowering institution motivates her to succeed.
“To think what I would have been or done without TSTC, I would not have had the career that I have," Molina said. "Being blessed enough to work for TSTC, coming in here and through our work and what we do each day, it resonates with people and places them in jobs. That is a cause worth fighting for."
Sais was a pharmacy technician before joining TSTC's staff in 2011. The Associate Manager for Enrollment and Admissions has family ties to TSTC. Her grandfather was a campus police officer and her father graduated from what is now the Occupational Safety and Environmental Compliance program.
“I want to build on TSTC’s legacy of placing Texans in well-paying jobs and contribute to the growth of our economy and enhancing the lives of people living in the state of Texas,” Sais said.
Among other tasks, Sais develops events to attract students and works with advisors and enrollment coaches to find solutions to problems that students are having with classes.
Sais said she enjoys seeing her students graduate.
"It is a great feeling to see they have overcome the obstacles they had and were able to reach their goal and fulfill their dream of whatever career path they have chosen,” Sais said.
The TSTC-Waco community is proud of Molina and Sais.
“The award celebrates more than just achievement," TSTC Chief Executive Officer and Chancellor Mike Reeser said. "The recipients also positively impact the workplace at TSTC through modeling our core values on a day-to-day basis. So they do more than get things done -- they help the entire team be better."
“It’s truly an honor to work alongside such remarkable and dedicated folks," said Provost of TSTC's Waco campus Beth Wooten. "Our campus community is better because of them."