BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Looking to address a critical workforce shortage while steering high school students toward high-paying careers, Texas Southmost College (TSC) hosted an immersive, hands-on summer camp this week that brought together students from 13 Rio Grande Valley school districts.
The initiative, partially funded by an $8,000 grant from Educate Texas, represents a shift away from traditional, passive campus tours. Instead, organizers are placing local youth directly into real-world laboratory settings—ranging from healthcare and industrial robotics to heavy construction and HVAC. HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning.
For Ruben De La Rosa, an HVAC instructor and program coordinator at TSC, the annual summer camp is a vital tool for recruitment in an industry currently facing a significant labor deficit.
“The HVAC industry right now is—there’s a shortage,” De La Rosa said, noting that the scarcity of technicians is driving up regional wages. “There’s more demand, more opportunities for these students that are graduating from our program. As far as placement goes, the opportunities are very good. Also, the salaries are going up all the time because of the demand.”
During the camp, students from San Benito High School received a comprehensive overview of the trade, which De La Rosa emphasized stretches far beyond simple residential AC repair. The curriculum is designed to give students a tangible taste of the field before they graduate high school, enticing them to pursue certificates or associate degrees.
De La Rosa, who began his own career in high school 43 years ago and has taught for 25 years, noted that the financial success of his former students has created a unique challenge for the college itself.
“We are a little bit short-handed on instructors,” De La Rosa acknowledged, smiling. “But [former students] are like, ‘Sir, we’re making so much money right now that I’m happy, I’m okay where I’m at.’”
As artificial intelligence continues to disrupt various professional sectors, De La Rosa remains confident that the trades offer a level of job security that digital algorithms cannot replicate.
“What I foresee right now is… it is going to be very hard for AI to replace us, because we are a hands-on industry,” De La Rosa said. “I don’t foresee AI for now doing the installation of a central heating unit. I don’t see AI right now doing a repair on a refrigerator.”
While acknowledging that AI will increasingly be integrated into modern memory systems and diagnostic circuit boards, De La Rosa maintained that “you're still going to need a person, a human, to be able to troubleshoot physically and do the physical work.”
In total, more than 100 high school students from 13 school districts across the Valley participated in career-focused summer training at TSC through the Pathways to Career Regional P-TECH Expansion initiative.
The program served 104 students and included partnerships with five rural school districts, five public school systems and three charter school networks. Students took part in seven summer camps designed to provide industry credentials and career exploration opportunities.
Credential-based training was offered in Certified Nurse Assistant, NCCER Core Construction and Security Guard Level II programs. Additional camps introduced students to careers in health professions, career and technical education, cybersecurity and auto body technology.
Participants explored a range of career pathways, including nursing, radiologic technology, respiratory care, emergency medical services, diagnostic medical sonography, medical laboratory technology, construction, HVAC, electrical systems, automation, cybersecurity and auto body repair.
The emphasis on physical, experiential learning is the defining feature of the summer camp, according to David Plummer, TSC’s Vice President of Student Development.
“What we do is we don’t do a lot of PowerPoint presentations,” Plummer said. “We don’t show them what it’s going to look like. We actually have them do it.”
Plummer explained that students participating in the allied health tracks are performing ultrasounds on medical torsos, while those in the technical tracks are actively building structures or operating industrial robotics. The goal is to provide deep career exploration so students can make informed decisions before committing to a post-secondary path.
The program relies heavily on TSC's existing dual enrollment infrastructure. By partnering with school districts across the region, TSC successfully coordinated attendance despite competing summer schedules like band and sports. To accommodate geographically isolated communities, the college even established satellite programming.
“We actually have some programs going on at La Villa High School in La Villa, so that way the schools that are far away... don't have to drive an hour to high tech,” Plummer said, noting that students there are focusing on core construction credentials and security training.
The current grant from Educate Texas focuses primarily on STEM and allied health fields, though Plummer expressed interest in eventually expanding the camp's scope to include criminal justice, paralegal studies, art, and music.
Looking ahead, Plummer also hopes to lower the age threshold for these career experiences, catching students before they reach high school.
“I think maybe we need to start a little bit earlier,” Plummer said. “Exposing students at sixth, seventh, eighth [grade]... giving them kind of multiple visits or multiple experiences in different careers will help them make decisions, versus in high school where they might have already kind of made up their mind.”
With regional superintendents watching the outcomes of this year’s cohort, Plummer expects regional interest to grow organically by next summer. “I know once they kind of see and hear what’s going on, we’re going to get interest,” he said.
For veterans like De La Rosa, the camp is also about watching a professional legacy take root across the Rio Grande Valley.
“I used to be the director for the other college in Harlingen, TSTC. The coordinator from there is a former student of mine. One of the instructors there is also a former student of mine,” De La Rosa said. “Soon, in the near future, my legacy will be left here at Texas Southmost College, too... It feels good, and I’m proud of them.”
