Brett Stonehouse and Devon Handsor still have another year of high school, but are on the verge of earning welding credentials recognized across Canada.
Brett Stonehouse and Devon Handsor still have another year of high school, but are on the verge of earning welding credentials recognized across Canada.
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The Chatham-Kent secondary school 11th-graders are among 20 students who recently tested for Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) certificates.
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Stonehouse, 16, tested for three tickets, doing flat, horizontal and vertical-up welding plates.
“I’ve always liked working with my hands,” Stonehouse said, adding “steady hands” are key to being a good welder.
Handsor, 17, tested for his flat welding ticket, but doesn’t intend to stop there.
“Once I get my flat done, I’m going to start doing the other tests so I can get those certifications too,” he said.
CKSS tech teacher Kevin Hoskins said students welded 22 plates in CWB certification testing this week, the most done at one time at the school so far.
“Any weld shop in the area has the same inspector go to it,” he said. “These guys are getting certified exactly the same as any other weld shop, same ticket, same everything.”
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The plates were sent Thursday to Milton to be X-rayed as the final test to earn the certificates.
Hoskins said 12 of the 13 plates done by students in January passed the test.
Students can learn to weld four plates – flat, horizontal, vertical-up and overhead – Hoskins said. This involves both learning in class and putting in extra time after school.
“A lot of weld shops will take students on, because they know they can actually weld in structures and they’re certified,” he said.
But it takes practice, patience and hard work to earn a CWB certificate, something Stonehouse knows well.
Last year, he failed in his bid for flat and horizontal welding tickets. So he tried again this year, going for his vertical-up ticket as well, and plans to do the overhead welding test, too.
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Stonehouse admitted he thought about quitting, but said Hoskins kept asking him back.
“I came back and my welds were better than before,” he said, adding, “This time I had less nerves, so it was easier to do, stay steady during the test.”
Some students have a little anxiety when the inspector is there, “because they know it’s a one try, pass or fail,” Hoskins said.
Handsor is confident in the welding skills he’s learned since Grade 10.
“It’s been pretty steady for me, I’ve been catching on pretty quick,” he said.
“I want to become a welder or a millwright,” said Handsor, adding earning welding certificates now will help him get an apprenticeship.
Stonehouse knows he wants a career in the skilled trades, but hasn’t settled on trade yet.
“It’s always good to have my (welding) tickets,” he said.
Hoskins said he is “super proud” of his students’ effort and success.
“Usually when they keep trying, they always succeed,” he added.
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