Students spark up at competition

Things were fizzling over in Perry & Perry Construction’s Serving Welder Across Texas Building in Rockdale on Nov. 17.

That is because there were 196 students of welding from 19 school districts in Texas competiting for awards in the Tiger Tough Welding Competition for high school students.

“This concept has been around for four years,” said Lin Perry of Perry & Perry who sponsored the event for the third year in a row. “It is part of a series with competitions in Waller, Columbus, Cypress Ridge and others.” Rockdale High School was the host for the event that had potential future welders cutting metal and welding in position and out of position, and testing their knowledge on the tools that make up the profession of welding.

“The goal of the Texas High School Welding Series is 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,” said Britain Pesak who is the director of Career and Technical Education at Rockdale High School. “The Texas High School Welding Series was officially established in 2018- 2019 as a collaborative effort from business, industry and educational leaders to communicate the needs of the welding industry to the education community and provide support for student education.”

“This gives the kids the skill set to be able to leave high school and go directly into the workforce with the training needed for a highly compensated position,” Perry said. “The skill sets are directly related to the business we are in. Turning out a skilled workforce that amplifies the whole industry.”

Industry professionals such as Jose Ruiz and Randy Owens of Perry & Perry were among those that provided expertise and feedback to the students during the events.

At the competition several Rockdale students won recognition for their effort that day.

In the cutting competition Lane Wallace won first and Hayden Smith earned second place; in the quiz/tool & machine ID test Lance Wallace finished sixth out of all those taking the test. Other Rockdale students earned American Welding Society certifications in various welding categories. Smith, Joseph Nieto, Hayden Aguilar, Alex Ebba and Diego Garza all earned AWS certifications.

There were also scholarships awarded and prizes given out at the awards ceremony at the end of the day.

Perry noted that the competition in Rockdale was the biggest so far.

“One of the nice things about this is they experience more real life situations such as welding out of position in the air,” he said of the event where students weld high in the air on a scissor lift.