3 days ago
High school students get hands-on welding experience
Waco, Tx (FOX 44) – A month-long welding boot camp is giving Robinson High School students a leg up toward a new career for those not planning to go to college.
Juniors and seniors are taking advantage of the program at a new workforce training facility that is a partnership between Texas State Technical College, McLennan County and the City of Waco.
The facility on Wycon Drive is called The WorkSITE (for 'skills, innovation, training and education').
The Robinson students are the first to work in the WorkSITE welding lab in a building that itself only opened in February.
Drake Morphis is one of the Robinson students involved in the boot camp which runs through June 30.
'I've never used equipment straight out of the box like that,' Morphis said. 'It's definitely an improvement on what I know, and I'm still kind of trying to get used to that, but I think it's going to pay off. I think it's going to help me sharpen my abilities.'
Alicia Cruz is the associate program lead at The WorkSITE. She says its been good to see what is happening in the welding program.
'Watching these young minds dive into hands-on learning, achieving real-world skills and bringing their creativity to life, is a great way to christen the lab,' she said.
Michael Beridon, a senior at Robinson High School, said he enjoys welding because he is not sitting in an office all day. He considers the summer welding lessons a preview of what he will encounter when he enrolls next year to study Welding Technology at TSTC.
Zac Cox, an instructor in TSTC's Welding Technology program, is teaching the month-long training using a condensed curriculum. He said the first two weeks of the training focus on shielded metal arc welding, with additional teaching planned for gas metal arc and flux-cored arc welding.
The welding boot camp is made possible through a partnership between the Robinson Independent School District – Texas ACE (Afterschool Centers on Education) program and The WorkSITE. The summer session is at no cost to the students.
More information about The WorkSITE may be found .
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