LAHARPE — Brandon Sprague considers himself lucky.
His passion, welding and metalworks, fits a niche needed in today’s workforce.
“There’s been a welding shortage since I’ve started,” he continued. “I graduated in 2005, and if anyone is familiar with economic trends, I graduated into one of the worst economies in modern history. And I’ve never been without work.”
As Sprague began his career, he realized the demand for welders sparked another of his passions — teaching others.
He found a perfect marriage of the two concepts as instructor for the new welding course at LaHarpe’s Regional Rural Technology Center, in the old Diebolt Lumber complex.
Sprague teaches 24 students — all but three of them area high-schoolers — in the tech center, which also offers a construction trades class for students pursuing careers in carpentry.
This is the second full year of the construction trades course; welding classes opened in the fall.
The tech center also offers online certified nursing assistant (CNA) and certified medical assistant (CMA) courses. Students stay at their home campus for those courses.
CONVERSATIONS with Sprague and others involved with the tech center reveal unbridled enthusiasm for the program’s potential, especially if officials are successful in getting a wind farm technology program started in the near future.
“It all boils down to funding,” said Stacey Fager, USD 257 superintendent of schools.
The tech center offers the vocational classes to high school students from Iola USD 257, Marmaton Valley USD 256, Crest USD 479 and Uniontown USD 235.
Instruction is provided by area community colleges, because of the way state funding for the program is delivered. The courses offer dual credit, so students can work toward both high school and college diplomas, or certification for those looking to go directly into the workforce.
THE WELDING courses run run one or two years, depending on how much certification a student desires.
Students are introduced to basic welding and metal concepts at the start before delving into the various types of welds, and there are many.
“It’s not like with other skills, where you can take one test and now you’re a master welder,” Sprague noted. “If you go out on a job, they’ll evaluate the type of welds that are going to be performed and you’ll have to be certified for each specific joint.”
The courses are set up for “stacked” credits, Sprague continued. That is, a student may earn multiple college credits during the same class sessions.
