On Nov. 17, nearly 300 students from over 25 schools gathered at Perry and Perry Builders (PPB) Servicing Welders Across Texas (S.W.A.T) Building to compete and earn certifications at the 5th annual Tiger Tough Certification Event. This event is hosted by PPB in conjunction with Rockdale ISD and the Texas High School Welding Series (TXHSWS) in an effort to strike the arc between education and industry, forge a common bond and work together to close the skills gap by developing the technical and employability skills necessary in today’s youth for tomorrow’s welding industry.
Students in the Welding Program of Study at Rockdale High School are students who show an interest or aptitude for the career and begin the coherent sequence of courses in Principles of Skilled Trades where they learn about safety, tools, measurement and other basics. Students can then begin to take classes specific to welding to earn industry-based certifications. Once the students are in the advanced level welding classes, they can also compete against other schools in welding competitions through the Texas High School Welding Series.
The results from the contest were impressive. Eight students earned their American Welding Society (AWS) D9.1 2F SMAW Certification. Those students are Daniel Castillo, Za-Kobe Anderson, Carson Eoff, Radyn Hamilton, Layon Mogford, Ezequiel Castro Correa, Edgar Turrubiates Zuniga and Jonathan Morgan.
In the Cutting Contest, Rockdale stole the show! Diego Garza took the top spot and Daniel Castillo earned second place honors. Sam Bell also made it to the final round and took home 10th place. In Underwater Welding, Brianna Bailey earned 3rd place in the beginner category. Nearly 30 students competed from Rockdale at this event, and many were in upper levels that require X-Ray and are significantly more difficult to pass. Many of these students have already earned other certifications. With over 300 contestants in the contest, this is quite the accomplishment and says a lot about the program.
Students also participated in a welding knowledge and tool identification quiz, and team build to create a torch rig, and had the opportunity to visit with lots of industry specialists throughout the day including time to Pipe Weld with the Professionals.
Special thanks to the employees of Perry and Perry Builders and Servicing Welders Across Texas, the volunteers of the Texas High School Welding Series, and the Welding/ Agriculture Science Teachers at Rockdale ISD for all of their time and effort to make this event a success for the students.
Please contact Britina Pesak, Director of Career and Technical Education at bpesak@rockdaleisd.net or 512-430-6000, ext. 1021 if you would like to find out more about any of the CTE programs available at Rockdale ISD.
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