A Culver Community High School student was honored recently as the SCILL Center vocational welding class Student of the Month. Isaac Haimbaugh was selected based on classroom performance in addition to performance in the welding lab, a great attendance record, stellar cooperation with other students, and all the hard work he’s put into the program.
Welding Instructor Andrew Odle said the decision was tough, but Haimbaugh really set the bar high for the other students. With a number of very gifted students in the running, Odle said any of them would have been a great selection, but Haimbaugh earned his award.
The SCILL welding program was initiated this fall through the Starke County Economic Development Foundation in conjunction with welding employers throughout the area. The program seeks to fill the desperate lack of qualified welders locally, reigonally, and nationally. In order to meet that need, the SCEDF formed a subcommittee to investigate and build a welding program.
In just a few months, through the cooperation of the SCEDF, SCILL, business, industry, and governmental entities, as well as area school systems, the North Central Area Vocational Cooperative and non-profit organizations, the SCILL welding program was formed. An adult beginning welding program is housed in the same facility in the Knox Middle School. This class is a 12-week program that can lead directly in the workplace as the students will take those same AWS certification tests.
For more information on the SCILL welding program, contact the SCILL office at (574) 772-8001.
