Career & Technical Education Paves Path for Former Student

Wylie ISD graduate Blaine Winn attributes his journey and passion for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) to the invaluable opportunities he experienced in high school through the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. This pathway, combined with hands-on internships, part-time work, and guidance from incredible mentors, paved the way for Winn’s next steps. 

Winn, who graduated from Wylie High School in 2021, said he looks forward to graduating from the University of Oklahoma with his bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurship in December. Upon graduation, Winn has a job as a technical control sales engineer at Trane waiting for him. 

“I always wanted to be an engineer from as early as third grade,” Winn recalls. 

When Winn started at WHS, he enrolled in Introduction to Engineering.

“From there, I began to grow relationships with the teachers in the CTE building,” he said. 

During his junior year, Winn took welding, where he first heard about the HVAC program from other students.

“They came to talk to our welding class,” Winn said. “Their sales pitch on the class had me hooked. So I signed up for it for my senior year. At this point in my life, I had no idea how impactful this class was about to be and how it was going to set me on a path towards success, thanks to Ronnie Bayless.”

Wylie ISD HVAC Lead Ronnie Bayless taught the HVAC class for three years. He is one of the many mentors Winn credits for making a lasting impact on his life.

“Ronnie Bayless never sought himself out to be a teacher, but ended up being one of the greatest teachers that I have encountered,” Winn said. “Not only that but [Bayless is] also one of the greatest men that I have met. The many lessons I learned from Ronnie Bayless, still hold true to this very day -- lessons about HVAC, but also lessons about life.”

As part of Wylie ISD’s Career and Technical Education Signing Day, during his senior year, Winn (sitting centered) signed a “letter of intent” to work at H&G, a commercial HVAC company. He thanks Bayless (standing behind him) for helping him attain this position right out of high school.

Thanks to a recommendation from Bayless, Winn started his first summer out of high school as an apprentice in welding and plumbing for H&G, a commercial HVAC company.

He later apprenticed with several other HVAC companies, with his sights set on one day owning his own HVAC business.

This past summer, Winn worked as an HVAC Control Sales Engineer for Trane. 

“Even though I wasn’t an engineer, I was still able to keep up,” Winn said. “I was also able to prove myself well enough to get offered a full-time position following graduation.”

The Wylie ISD CTE program helped set Winn on his path, but it's his own hard work and determination that are turning his dream into a reality.

“Many people think that high school is just a minor stepping stone to where you will end up in life, but without the decisions and opportunities that I was given in high school, I would not be where I am today,” Winn said.