Welding is one of the \u201chottest\u201d programs in the Career and Technical Education program at Los Fresnos High School, and expansion plans are underway.<\/p>\n
Students get hands-on training in the welding program, which is part of the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources division of CTE. It has been a popular program and teacher Edwin Rivera has a waiting list of students trying to register for his classes.<\/p>\n
Rivera teaches Agriculture Mechanics and Metal Technologies classes, where students become proficient in plate welding and receive D1.1 Certification from the American Welding Society.<\/p>\n
They learn various welding processes including oxyacetylene gas welding, gas tungsten arc, gas metal arc and other processes. They also learn to design and fabricate welded projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s neat to see young minds work,\u201d said Rivera, who worked at an oil refinery and nuclear plant before he became a teacher. \u201cI\u2019ve watched them from barely being able to strike an arc to get certifications as a welder. It\u2019s not only about learning how to weld but about being a good and respectful individual.\u201d
\nCurrent facilities and safety regulations limit Rivera to 20 students in class.<\/p>\n
But the Los Fresnos CISD administration and Board of Trustees has noted the popularity of the program and how beneficial it is to students. They have budgeted an expansion of the Welding Shop, scheduled to begin in the spring, increasing the building\u2019s square footage by about 20 percent.<\/p>\n
Rivera\u2019s classes are always full, and more students try to enroll.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the expansion, we\u2019ll be able to offer bigger and better things for our students,\u201d Rivera said, who is a Certified Welding Educator. \u201cWe want to introduce the math part of welding, the blueprint reading, welding symbol reading and things like that. It\u2019s all part of making them employable and marketable once they finish high school. So when an employer gets one of our students, they will get a good product. I have been blessed with very good students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rivera encourages students interested in a welding career to continue at the Welding Technology program at Texas State Technical College in Harlingen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are jobs in the welding industry but their main concern is that there is not enough skilled labor to fill these jobs,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cOne of my former students was a who got six top ratings in 10 phases. When he was 18, he got a job offer in Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosa Villarreal, who was among in the Top 10 graduates of Los Fresnos High School in 2013, was in the Top 10 in her graduating. Villarreal received an academic scholarship from Tulsa Welding School, where she is continuing her education.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have students who complete my program and further their education by attending a technical school. Others enter the workforce right away,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cWhat motivates me is when I hear stories from instructors at places like Tulsa Welding School, and it\u2019s great to hear that our students are excelling over there. They are top of their classes.<\/p>\n
Welding has taken on an art form as well. Last year\u2019s students designed and constructed a Falcon sculpture that now on exhibit at front entrance of Los Fresnos High School. Students are already planning the next sculpture to show at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show in Mercedes this March.<\/p>\n
\u201cWelding has changed a lot through the years,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cIndustry currently demands different forms of welding, such as fabrication, underwater welding, building aircraft, and the arts. If you look around, you see a lot of artwork and sculptures. Welding is all around us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because welding revolves around hazards such as open flames and sparks, students are taught to put safety first. Students must wear eyeglasses, and can only wear cotton clothes and leather shoes. Flammable materials are prohibited.<\/p>\n
Some students in Rivera\u2019s class know that a welding career can be profitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a hard job, but it\u2019s a good-paying job for your future,\u201d junior Jose Cano said. \u201cMy dad (Jose Cano) is a welder in Louisiana, and he wants me to work with him. He\u2019s been welding for all of his life. I like hard work and I learned that from my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Welding is an adrenaline rush for senior Eric Rivera, who hopes to make it a career.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re getting the certification which revolves around structure,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cI like to do hands-on things, which is why I like this class. Just being building part of a skyscraper is something exciting for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mr. Rivera, satisfaction is watching his students work hard every day in class and seeing results in a construction project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you see the commitment of our students day after day with sweat in their brow \u2026 that\u2019s where I get my motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Welding is one of the \u201chottest\u201d programs in the Career and Technical Education program at Los Fresnos High School, and expansion plans are underway. Students get hands-on training in the welding program, which is part of the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources division of CTE. It has been a popular program and teacher Edwin Rivera […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lfcisd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2093"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2095,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2093\/revisions\/2095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}