Western Technical College

   Annually, the El Paso Association of Career Schools (EPACS) honors instructors who have proven to excel at teaching, and this year WTC can boast having two of the teachers selected.  Western Technical Colleges is proud of the two selected Instructors, Paul Wilson, an Applied Electronics Instructor who teaches at the Northeast Branch Campus and Richard Brubaker, a Welding Instructor teaching at the Eastside Main Campus for being nominated and selected as Teachers of the Year. 

   Wilson says he is “very flattered” to be named teacher of the year, and he adds that winning awards is not why he teaches.  His teaching philosophy is that “education should be interactive.” To achieve this teaching style, Wilson integrates many different teaching methods to reach every type of student learning.  He varies his methods using a combination of texts, lectures, homework, and of course the hands-on training that WTC is known for.  Wilson definitely has the experience to be labeled an expert as he has been involved with learning, working in the field, and teaching electronics for 45 years, and that experience has brought him all over the world in places like Germany, Mexico, Haiti, Taiwan, and Chicago. After these travels, he has now been teaching at WTC for five years, an experience he describes as “the love of [his] life.”  Seeing students succeed is his favorite part of teaching.

  Brubaker’s teaching philosophy is to “give the students what they need to survive out in the field and to also give them the confidence to pass future welding tests.” As for recently being named teacher of the year, Brubaker says, “it is an honor.” He admits he had no idea he was even nominated until WTC Academic Dean, Charles Brown, sent him home from work to check his mail, where he found his nomination notice.  He says he spends so much time at WTC he forgets to check the mail. Thank goodness Brown sent him home to find the notice of nomination so he could finalize the application process for the award.  Brubaker was originally a student in the very same welding program he now teaches in. He came to WTC with a working knowledge of what it takes to work in the welding industry, but he credits WTC with developing his scientific knowledge of the welding process. He is currently studying to become a CWI (Certified Welding Instructor) through the AWS (American Welding Society), and with that certification he hopes to be able to offer testing and certification for students’ right at the WTC eastside campus.

   EPACS works hard to encourage growth and development to make the community even stronger. Member Institutions believe that a mutual interest exists between the business community, the political leadership, and career schools and colleges to improve and enhance the quality of life in the El Paso area by providing the best possible training at the lowest cost in the shortest period of time.