ROBSTOWN, Texas — While most students enjoyed sleeping in during summer vacation, students at Robstown Early College High School dedicated their break to mastering their welding skills!
Through a partnership with Del Mar College, these students spent 12 weeks learning how to weld, working Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m.
"Even though the weld looks good, it has a possibility of still failing. So you might have like the best looking weld, but when you test, you did one thing wrong and you cracked it," Zachary Rodriguez, a Robstown Early College High School welding student, said.
Rodriguez says the program helped him get a taste of his future career path.
"What helps is our instructors are kinda harder on you in terms of how it's supposed to be. They won't let you just pass to pass," Rodriguez said.
The welding pathway at the high school offers students the opportunity to earn a Level 1 in Intermediate Welding, a Level 2 Advanced Welding Certificate, and even an associate's degree.
"It prepared me how to like read a blueprint, prepared me how to tig well, how to stick well, it prepared me how to like tack,” Abigail Rios, another student in the welding program, said. “I think it prepared me really good to like when I get like a real job."
Rios is currently working toward her Level 2 certificate.
School officials say the program aims to transform students' lives by providing them with marketable skills for their future careers.
Students interested in welding can still register for classes.
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