Five Hamilton High School students are learning welding this last quarter of school at Keokuk Steel Castings. Two days a week, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, the juniors and seniors are gearing up in protective clothing, donning welding helmets, face guards, respiratory masks and leather aprons to melt metal with a stick of fire.
Four Steel Castings welders, all volunteers, are instructing and overseeing the students as they work in five of the 24 welding booths at the Steel Castings plant on Main Street in Keokuk.
Plant supervisor Rob Crowley has worked there nearly 14 years.
“This is a great program,” said Crowley. “I came straight from graduating at Hamilton High School to working here. I was trained after I got here. I'm glad to help give these students an opportunity to learn welding while in high school.”
Also working with the Hamilton students are Kevin Carr with 21 years at Steel Castings, Jeff Maxwell with 15 years and Jed Soper with 10 years.
“I've been attending Keokuk area business meetings where we've been discussing fostering training for employers in the community,” said Ron Gilbert, Hamilton Junior High and High School principal.
“I met Roger Courtney at one of these meetings and heard his frustration at not finding enough qualified workers.”
Courtney is the CEO of Matrix Metals LLC/Keokuk Steel Castings and president of the Keokuk plant.
“We talked about partnering,” said Gilbert. “We want to offer our students more vocational classes. The high school does not have facilities for welding. I asked if he could help us.”
S.J. Smith Co., a welding company in Keokuk, has an established partnership with Keokuk Steel Castings to help with new-hire trainees.
Without any cost to the school district, S.J. Smith is providing the welding supplies and Steel Castings is providing the welding booths and instructors. The only cost to students is purchasing steel-toed shoes. Everything else is provided.
“This ties three local entities together,” said Gilbert. “The school district, Steel Castings and S.J. Smith.
“Our students started here March 27. We held an orientation for them and their parents.”
Students went through an orientation about the plant, how to fill out an application and resume for the job and an extensive orientation for safety.
“We drilled safety into them,” said Kerry LeMaster, director of human resources at Keokuk Steel Castings.
Kenny Hamilton of S.J. Smith said the students are held to industry and Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards of safety.
Hamilton and LeMaster said the students are progressing well.
“Two, a brother and sister, are ready to take the certification test,” said LeMaster. “When they are ready, we administer the test. They will receive a certificate of completion. We will offer employment to any student who completes this course.”
There is an age requirement of 18 years old to work in an industry. Students younger than 18 can learn and train because they are under supervision.
On Thursday, Josh Bullard kept working in his welding booth while his peers took a deserved break.
“He's working on his test,” said Crowley. “He's very determined to pass the test first. We've taught the students basic mig welding. They've done arcing on casts. After the test, we'll take Josh's work for x-ray and look to see if it's done correctly.”
The other four Hamilton students came back from break. Bullard, who kept welding in his booth, is the one with a younger sister, Mariah Bullard, also in the class.
“They are competitive in a good way,” said Gilbert.
Mariah said there are a few female welders at Steel Castings but there hasn't been much opportunity for students to interact with the employees. The employees work a 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. shift. Students arrive as the employee welders are leaving.
Tim Terford, Kyle Sherburne and Daniel Leroy make up the rest of this initial class. Dressed in full welding gear, mouths covered by breathing masks, the students indicated they are enjoying learning the skill and appreciate the opportunity to work with the dedicated Steel Castings welders who volunteer to teach them.
None of them were sure just how they might use welding in the future.
Debra Wilson, mother of Josh and Mariah, said Josh is entering the Marine Corps on June 12, a few weeks after high school graduation.
“He wants to have a job of underwater welding,” she said. “He's getting a jump start here, learning basic welding.”
LeMaster said the students also work on carbon gouging.
“That's where you're removing metal defects or cleaning something out to re-weld correctly,” he said. “Welders need to know the chemistry for different metal alloys. They get a book. Carbon steel is one of the most common used and that's what they're doing here.”
The Hamilton students went back to work inside the booths, making sparks fly.
“The goal of the training program is turning out qualified welders who can graduate high school and be employed in the community,” said Gilbert. “The school district gets the benefit of offering more opportunities to students, the industry benefits by having more trained workers and the community benefits if more young people choose to stay here and can make a decent living.
“I'd like to invite any other area business to explore this. Any business or industry out in the community that would like to discuss partnering with Hamilton School District, I invite them to contact me,” said Gilbert.
The Hamilton High School phone number is 217-847-3313.
Gilbert hopes to expand vocational training opportunities and revive a work-study program in Hamilton.
LeMaster and Hamilton also said Steeling Castings and S.J. Smith are seeking other school districts to partner with them for training. LeMaster can be reached at 524-2661 ext. 212. Hamilton's phone number at S. J. Smith is 524-2032.
本文转自：China Industry News
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