Clark College and Youth Workforce collaborate to offer Welding Boot Camp
Students in the Youth Workforce program try their hand at welding.
Welding is a sought after skill, however, welding classes at local community colleges and training schools are full with adults looking for a career change or to brush up on welding skills. For some 18-21 year olds without a lot of experience, it’s hard to tell if they have the aptitude for welding without taking a 10 to 12 week class – if they can even get in a class.
That’s why Clark College and ESD 112’s Youth Workforce Program teamed up to offer youth a chance to try their hand at welding – in a concentrated “boot camp” manner that mirrors a fulltime welding job – all in two weeks. Taking advantage of the break between summer and fall terms at Clark, nine young men and one young women from the Youth Workforce Program are seeing if they have what it takes to weld – six-and-half-hours a day - under the tutelage of Clark College welding instructor John Kuhn.
For Clark College, it’s a way to use every bit of classroom and welding capacity. For the ten Youth Workforce students, who are funded by the Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council’s Workforce Investment Act, it’s a chance to see if they can make it as a welder in a work environment similar to a full-time job and earn college credit.
“They are getting a chance to try stick, wire feed, MIG, TIG and oxy-fueled welding techniques. By the end of the two weeks, they should understand what it takes to weld and if they enjoy it in a day-long environment. If they do, they can continue on into the welding sequence and gain national certification,” says Kuhn.
At the end of the boot camp, Clark College and ESD 112 will evaluate if the pilot is successful, and what other options might be available, besides welding, to be squeezed into “down time” at the college.
Public Info/Youth Workforce Program - September 8, 2009