New Houston High welding lab brightens futures

HOUSTON — When Chase Henderson was still in middle school, he’d sneak into the small welding lab near his school’s gym just to see some sparks fly.

“I wasn’t supposed to be here and honestly it didn’t look very good,” Henderson, 15, told a room full of state and school district officials gathered Friday to christen Houston High School’s new welding facility housed at Houston Middle School. “But I signed up for the welding program when I got to high school and have been very impressed since being in the class.”

Henderson, now a sophomore, said he’s gained a strong work ethic and learned to be more responsible for himself and others since being in the welding program.

“The only way to describe it is life-changing,” Henderson said during the special Rebar Cutting Celebration at the facility that afternoon.

A lot has changed in that welding room in just the last year, thanks to Alaska Construction Academy, Construction Education Association, Associated General Contractors of Alaska, Mat-Su Borough School District, Alaska Dept. of Labor’s “Skills USA” program and state lawmakers Sen. Charlie Huggins and Rep. Mark Neuman.

Because of their efforts and support, the tiny two-station stick-welding room has been transformed into a state-of-the-art, 10-station welding lab in which Henderson and 23 of his classmates can try out a trade that typically starts at about $24 per hour once you’re certified.

The $200,000 facility was funded partially through a federal funding program, but mostly by the Alaska Construction Academies, according to Ray DePriest director of the MSBSD Career and Technical Education department.

“This sort of program is invaluable in teaching students skills they could use for the rest of their lives, if they wanted,” DePriest said.

And there is a growing need for such skills in Alaska and elsewhere, says Dave Hanson of the Mat-Su Borough Economic Development office.

“Welders are retiring at such a rate that it will be a challenge for our country to supply enough welders to work on existing pipelines, let alone new ones,” Hanson was quoted as saying by MSBSD Superintendent Kenneth Burnley during the rebar cutting celebration. “The facility here is so forward-looking to train Mat-Su youth for such a well-paying job and one in high demand.”

There were 1,756 Mat-Su students in construction-related classes this past year, DePriest told those gathered.

Along with Henderson, Senior Chris Hagensieker said he feels he’s learned invaluable skills he hopes to put to use while serving in the Marine Corps and afterward.

“When I first came to this class, I just thought of it as being able to play with fire, but it’s actually going to open me up to a lot of jobs in Alaska when I come back from the Marine Corps,” said the bearded 17-year-old. “I don’t plan on staying away forever.”

One of the parents in attendance at the celebration was Karna Pease, mother of sophomore Hunter Pease, an officer in the Houston High SkillsUSA chapter. She said that although Hunter is still unsure what he wants to do after graduating high school, she’s hoping he’ll learn some welding skills — just in case he needs them someday.

“This lab is absolutely incredible,” Pease said, joking that maybe she should sign up for some welding classes, too. “When we first move up here, this was like a little coat closet. I hadn’t been here in three years, so this is amazing.”

To get the lab up and running, construction students helped with the bricks and mortar encasing the welding stations and welding students put in the pipes, made metal hangers for their gear and built tables inside the stations, welding teacher Scott Ruta said.

This is Ruta’s first year teaching the course, he said. He taught himself how to weld in 1992, then joined the U.S. Air Force two years later and worked as a metals technician.

“We’re a little over capacity with 12 students in each class and only 10 stations, but we’re fine. The students share,” Ruta said. “We’re hoping to expand the lab in the next couple of years. I see a lot of students expressing an interest in the class; they just drop in sometimes to watch.”

Ruta estimates that at least half of the students will end up working in some sort of welding or construction trade later.

“Right now, they’re just learning the basics, like how to not light themselves or anyone else on fire and to protect their eyes,” he said. “By the end of the year, they’ll have some solid skills under their belts.”

Henderson isn’t waiting that long to put his skills to the test. He’s already spending extra hours in the lab, training to compete in the SkillsUSA welding competition in Anchorage next month.

“I’ll have to weld for six straight hours,” the wiry, curly-haired student said. “It covers every kind of welding you can imagine, even overhead welding, which can be pretty scary because hot metal drips on you.”

He said he loves having Ruta as a teacher.

“He explains everything very well,” he said. “I’ll be going into the competition very prepared and maybe even win a prize. Some employers will be there, so maybe I’ll even get a scholarship out of it or something.”

To Henderson, who also aspires to become a pilot someday, welding is the next best thing to flying.

“I want to fly helicopters or planes, but it that doesn’t work out, welding is one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done,” he said after demonstrating how to safely weld in one of the stations. “There’s nothing like welding.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.