ECC Welding Students Earn AWS Certificates

Fourteen East Central College welding students recently earned their American Welding Society (AWS) certificates for receiving high marks on unit assessments.

The college’s welding program uses online AWS learning platform for lecture and lab classes. The students who score a 90 percent or higher on their unit assessments earn a certificate. They can earn certificates for each of the unit assessments, which are Welding Safety, Oxy-Fuel Cutting, Plasma Cutting and Carbon Arc Cutting.

Listed below are the type of certificate, followed by the students who received them:

Safety in Welding — James Baxter, Holly Downey, Seth Fennessey, Justin Medlock, Brady Neely, Eli Radcliff, Zachary Regot and Cole Vance.

Oxy-Fuel Cutting — Sadie Miller and James Baxter.

Plasma Arc Cutting — Sadie Miller and Brady Neely.

Carbon Arc Cutting — James Baxter, Holly Downey, Seth Fennessey, Macey Hargrove, Justin Medlock, Sadie Miller, Brady Neely, Eli Radcliff, Zachary Regot, Erica Stockell and Cole Vance.

“These students have worked extremely hard to earn these certificates,” said Bobby Bland, welding program coordinator. “Most of our students have full-time jobs working 8-10 hours a day, and then come to class for 5 1/2 hours. They still show up every single evening, on time and with a smile, excited to learn.”

The students each recently completed the Welding I course as they work toward an ECC Certificate of Specialization.

“I cannot tell our community how much dedication, sacrifice, hard work and concentration these welding students have,” Bland added. “I would hire every single student that completes the welding program just for that reason alone.”

He further added that during the 16-week Fast Track Welding program, students experience rigorous training through lecture and real-world experience in the welding labs.

“Our students are ready for any task that comes their way and the unit certificates earned through AWS brings value to the students making them more marketable in the industry,” Bland commented.

For more information about the ECC welding program, visit www.eastcentral.edu/career-technical-education/welding/.