Once lagging in school, Huntington Beach teen welds together a solid future

Los Angeles Times

03-07-2025

Cameron Rauch didn't worry about homework, because the Huntington Beach teenager was rarely ever home.
'From the end of eighth grade to the start of my junior year, it was either school or work or I was out on a bike with friends,' Cameron said. 'I fell really behind in school. I played around a lot my freshman year.'
His life has not been easy to this point. His parents split up when he was entering middle school, both moving from Los Alamitos to opposite sides of Huntington Beach to co-parent.
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Cameron would log onto Zoom classes, turn his camera off and go play video games.
He moved across town with his father Eric before his mother Shelly, who he called one of the nicest people he'd ever met, started drinking heavily. She overdosed on pills she was taking for mental issues.
'She pretty much put a letter on the kitchen counter that said, 'Sorry for everything that I caused, I think this is going to be better for you guys,'' Cameron said.
His half-sister Taylor, a decade older, tried to help Cameron, but school at Edison High wasn't his bag. He worked part-time as a mechanic and got into dirt bikes, buying them cheap, fixing them up and turning a profit.
Another passion quickly began to emerge.
'My dad told me I wasn't going to be welding until I was out of high school, and I said, 'Watch me.' That same week, I sold a dirt bike that had been sitting in the garage and I went and bought a welder off Amazon,' he recalled. 'Me and one of my buddies split it 50-50, and we built a whole exhaust and bumper for his truck at the time with zero experience. We went and bought a bunch of stuff, and built like the crappiest exhaust setup and bumper that you probably will ever see. It rusted and crumbled in like six months.'
Cameron moved from Edison to Valley Vista High, a continuation school in the Huntington Beach Union High School District, so he could make up credits. Meanwhile, his aunt called Laura Costelloe, the welding program adviser at Urban Workshop in Costa Mesa.
She told Costelloe that Cameron loved welding, and some of the challenges he had been dealing with. Costelloe thought Cameron would be a perfect fit for the Department. of Rehabilitation Pathways to Success Project, a state initiative that provides financial assistance for high-wage, high-skilled occupations.
'They actually did not approve him in the beginning because of his age, because he's a minor,' Costelloe said.
But she kept working. She made contact with Breana Davis, a transition coordinator for the school district. The district has a program called the Transition Partnership Program, which is also run through the Department of Rehabilitation.
'The goal there is to help him figure out what he wants to do career-wise,' Costelloe said. 'Breana and I decided my program would be a better fit for him, because he already knew what he wanted to do.'
She went back to Jami Pazmino, the advanced manufacturing counselor for the Pathways to Success project, who ultimately gave Cameron another look and fast-tracked his application.
Cameron will receive about $14,000 worth of welding training at Urban Workshop, and his protective gear is also covered.
Chris Lynch, Urban Workshop welding instructor, said Cameron has only been to a couple of sessions so far, but he sees the potential. He added that becoming certified at an early age has benefits, because a welder's card states how long someone has been a certified welder.
'These are the kind of people I want to help,' Lynch said. 'I didn't have parents growing up, either. I was a … knucklehead, I was in jail by the time I was 13 years old. That lifestyle for me, I liked it, I enjoyed it. What welding did for me was help me get away from it. So if this is something that helps you get away from it, I'm more than willing to help you.'
Cameron appears to be on the right track. Danielle Hackworth, Pathways to Success program manager, said that Urban Workshop has been instrumental in helping participants pursue careers in advanced manufacturing and construction.
'By being dual enrolled with his high school and Urban Workshop, Cameron is earning both his diploma and certifications from the American Welding Society (AWS) and the city of Los Angeles Welding Program,' Hackworth said in an email. 'These credentials are equipping Cameron with the skills and real-world experience needed to enter the workforce directly after high school in a high-demand field — paving the way toward a successful and sustainable career.'
Cameron, who turns 17 later this month, works at a tire shop in Huntington Beach and has a girlfriend. He said he enjoys modifying his truck, a Ford Ranger that is several years older than he is.
He is moving back to Edison in the fall for his senior year, and he knows his father will be proud to see him walk across that stage to collect his diploma next June.
Valley Vista Principal Stacy Robison said Cameron is a great kid with a great attitude. He was able to earn 25 credits a quarter during his time there — 'but you have to do the work,' Robison said.
'We're really going to miss him a lot, but I'm so stoked for him that he'll be able to be at Edison and graduate from Edison,' she said.
Things are looking up for Cameron, who appears to have welded together a solid future.
'Once I had some experience welding at home alone, I realized not only how fun it is, but how relieving it is for me,' he said. 'I was never really home a lot, but once I started welding at home, I could sit there for hours and not even look at my phone.'
Costelloe, who calls herself the den mother, still checks in on Cameron often. What she tells him is simple — 'Make good choices.'
Her hope is that he can go through the aerospace program, which would mean that he would have about eight certifications when he graduates high school.
'Everyone I introduce Cameron to realizes that he's absolutely worth the time and the investment,' she said. 'He's so motivated, and he's going to do great things.'