The learning arc

Rows of black-painted concrete cubicles lined the walls of the spacious room. In each cubicle hung a rough, brown leather coat and a protective mask. Thick orange plastic curtains hung from the opening of each of the black bays, most of them pushed aside revealing a metal stool and a small, shiny metal built-in worktable. On the left side of each bay hung shiny red and black machines, complete with hoses and buttons. Sparking blue light flashed from behind the orange curtain of one of the cubicles, drawing attention to a young man in leather, hunched over a piece of metal which he held in a leather-clad hand. In the other he held a welding torch.

Budget shortfalls nearly stopped its completion, but with the perseverance of key volunteers from local industry, the Mat-Su Borough School District's new state-of-the-art welding facility officially opened Wednesday.

"There wasn't enough money to finish it," said Kris Forrester, director of Career and Technology Education for the district. The facility was in the midst of construction when the district discovered it had a $3 million budget deficit earlier this year. Although Forrester and the Welding Technology Advisory Board members were dedicated to the project, she said, she couldn't see a way to completion without the necessary funds.

"I talked to Shell Ewing (president of the advisory board) and said it looked like it would be another year [to completion]," Forrester said. Within 15 minutes of delivering the bad news, she said, she received a phone call from Ewing. He had found a volunteer to complete work on the exhaust system. That phone call was followed by many more as people in the industry who backed the program offered their services, their time and their resources.

Ewing, however, modestly refused to take any of the credit. "I was invited to participate some time back and I think all of us took it as our personal pride to give our best," Ewing said.

That pride showed in faces of some of the people who toured the facility Wednesday afternoon for its grand opening. Of the many people who came to tour the facility Wednesday, several could point to items they had worked on, installed or helped finish. Forrester pointed to a wall of black-painted bays and beamed, "That's my wall, I painted that."

Though more than pleased with the response from community members and borough employees who pitched in to complete the facility, Forrester said she wasn't surprised. There had been a great need for this type of facility in Mat-Su, she said, and the project was completely backed by those in the industry who would benefit from the influx of trained welders in the job pool.

"It is a good lesson about industry involvement and buying into it," Forrester said Tuesday. "People want to see it work."

Ewing reiterated the same sentiment at Wednesday's opening. "It's pretty easy to sell a program that's a nonprofit concept that ultimately will benefit industry and business," he said.

Forrester said she initially brought in people from VECO, Weld Air, Alyeska, and "anybody who would look at welders" to look at the previous, smaller facility at Palmer High School and she asked them what could be done with the welding program.

"They looked at it and said it was small and unsafe," Forrester said. "They told me it was like trying to teach them on dinosaurs and mastodons," she said. So the district looked at enlarging the program and bringing in new equipment, but without the luxury of purchasing a new building for the facility they were forced to look at existing buildings. Colony had a welding lab with 10 bays, Forrester said, but it had never been used. There were problems with the intake and exhaust ventilation but there was room to enlarge, she said, so the idea took off, growing as it went.

"This thing got bigger by the minute," Forrester said. "It was one of those black holes of money - it just kept getting bigger and bigger." Wednesday's open house would not have happened, though, without help outside the district, Forrester said.

"I can't say enough about our industry advisors and advocates." The expansion of the welding facility and subsequent certification of the programs and instructors was the direct result of that partnership between district staff, community and union volunteers, and the district's Industry Advisory Council.

The goal of the Welding program is to "encourage bright students with good mechanical aptitude to pursue careers in the construction trades industries, and to prepare them for entry-level positions or challenging academic post-secondary programs," according to information provided by district officials. Funding for the program is through grants and funding secured by the district's Career & Technical Education Department.

Robert Witherell, director of development for the American Welding Society foundation, said there are currently about 46 states with approximately 570 schools with programs such as this one. Witherell was on hand at Wednesday's opening to talk about the need for trained welders in the industry.

"This is an incredibly good career for men and women to get into," Witherell said, remarking that there is a huge shortage of welders right now.

The AWS provides a service to the industry by supporting schools and offering scholarships and student loans, Witherell said. Students who complete the program at Colony High School's new facility will be one-third of their way into their training, he said. When they complete the program they will have certification in Welding I and Welding II from the American Welding Society, putting them in an entry-level position. Students can then enter a welding engineering program to complete the advanced and expert welder portions of their training. The new facility is the largest of its type in the state of Alaska. It features a 20-bay training area and is open to any student in the district. Students also earn 16 college credits at a discounted price. They pay $15 per credit, Forrester said, rather than the usual $85 per credit. This is similar to other programs in the Career Pathways programs the district offers.

The welding classes are open to juniors and seniors, with a maximum capacity of 20 students, corresponding with the number of booths available. Classes are taught in two-and-a-half-hour blocks, in the morning and afternoon.

Some of the students on hand for demonstrations during Wednesday's open house had already taken welding classes at the Palmer facility. Each student asked said the new facility was an improvement over the old one.

Wasilla High School senior Roman Robert moved to Alaska about a year ago and had been in a welding program in the Lower 48, he said. "[This facility] is spread out so you can do anything," Robert said. "It's not cramped like some. It's a very nice facility."

Ron Pichler, vice president of Denali Drilling, said he is hoping the program will bring more qualified individuals into the work force. "We are always looking for young people who want to get involved in our type of work," he said. "In our industry it is real challenging for us these days. We are seeing fewer and fewer people who want to get involved in our business. Maybe places like this will help."

The program is expected to be at capacity from the start. Forrester said her staff shared information about the program Tuesday afternoon -- a day before the grand opening -- and within an hour they had a list of 26 students interested in signing up. To enter the program students must be in "good standing," Forrester said, meaning they must be meeting required courses, have good attendance and credits equaling junior status; and they must be serious about their decision -- they should want to make welding a career. Those who don't get in immediately will be placed on a waiting list.

Eventually, Forrester said, the district would also like sharing the facilities with adults through an evening and weekend program, to make the most use of it and to benefit the entire community. "It's amazing what all got done and how it got done," Forrester said. Bill Montagne, owner of Montagne Aircraft, said the facility was the best of its type he had seen in any high school, or college. "It's the best welding facility I've ever seen," Montagne said.