Thursday, January 5, 2017

Wicked Welding

They say it takes a village to raise a child, but this past October the Edmonton welding community was more concerned with raising the dead.

Students in grades 10-12 from across Edmonton attended Wicked Welding—a Halloween-themed welding competition at the CLAC welding training facility. The competition was a joint partnership between CLAC, the CWA Foundation, and high schools from the greater Edmonton area. This one-of-a kind competition allowed 30 students from eight area high schools to show off their creative side and welding skills.

Adam Clifford (CLAC), Dayton Block (Edmonton Catholic Schools), and Trent Konrad (CWA Foundation) spent several weeks organizing the competition.

“We wanted to create a high school welding competition where there is more of an emphasis on participation, having fun, and building skills, rather than simply winning,” says Adam.

Students arrived at 8 a.m. on October 22 and the event ran to 3 p.m.

“Students hardly took time to have a break—they were so busy working,” says Dayton. “It was amazing to see these students take an idea that they had on paper and in just six hours turn it into something amazing that exceeded even their own expectations.”

Aside from the creativity and the skill of the students, what was apparent was the safety conscious mindset and the teamwork shown between all of the competitors. Not once was there an incident of a student not wearing the necessary personal protective equipment or acting in an unsafe fashion.

“This is due in large part to the level of instruction that students receive from their high school teachers and the fact that a majority of welding teachers in Alberta are not only journeyperson welders but certified teachers as well,” says Dayton.

Representatives from Alberta Industry Training, CLAC, JV Driver, the CWA Foundation, and the University of Alberta were in attendance. In the end, a possessed pumpkin beat out skeletons, coffins, tombstones, a spider web table, a haunted house, and a graveyard. However, thanks to our industry partners, each student also received a prize through a random draw.

“We want these students to know that there is a future in welding and that there is a whole community here in Edmonton that supports them and supports high school welding programs,” says Adam.

By Trent Konrad – CWA Foundation.

Check out more photos on CLAC’s Facebook page!

Wicked Welding

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