‘Growing Employment Opportunity Through YKSD’s Welding Program’ by ACSA Staff

Every school district in Alaska focuses on preparing students for life after graduation. Anthony Cavan, CTE Welding Instructor for the Yukon-Koyukuk School District (YKSD), helps students receive the certifications and skills they need to start a career as welders right after graduation. 

After 22 years of teaching welding in Kodiak, Cavan moved to Fairbanks in 2021 to develop a welding program for YKSD. What was created was a short-term intensive training program where Cavan would visit each of the 10 YKSD schools for one week to introduce them to the concepts of welding. 

Cavan said the students first learn basic stick welding and build rocket stoves during their introduction. The reason the students learn to build rocket stoves, Cavan shared, is to integrate as much math into the project as possible, using angles and teaching technical reading and writing. This project is also culturally relevant: “One of the things they can do with the stove is take it to fish camp. It gives them a stove to use at fish camp that they can leave there and use every year,” Cavan said. 

During the first training, students receive their OSHA 10 certification for construction safety. Safety is a priority of the welding program, so the students must receive that certification to participate. OSHA 10 is also a requirement for federal construction jobs, giving them a leg up on a career pathway. 

Students who complete the first stick welding course can move on to the welding two class. In the second course, the students are introduced to wire feed, where they learn to build trailers that can be pulled behind their 4-wheelers for use on hunts or to gather firewood. 

For students who want to improve their welding skills, YKSD offers a week-long welding certification intensive camp in Fairbanks. Students who apply and attend the camp stay in dormitories at the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center and use the center’s shop during the certification camp. YKSD is currently completing its own dorms at its CTE building, which are scheduled to be completed this fall. 

The school district partners with a third-party certification tester to work with students on the certification process for the American Welding Society (AWS) D 1.1 Code and 3G and 4G position certifications. These certifications allow the students to apply for structural welding jobs. There are also options for students to return to test at a later time for wire feed certifications. On top of the certifications, YKSD provides their welding students with all the needed PPE so they have the necessary equipment to work after graduation. “We are trying to give them all the things they need to graduate and walk out with a job,” Cavan said. 

The job-ready skills Cavan and his team help the students gain go beyond welding. Students in the program participate in Skill SUSA to work on interview skills. Cavan said that to prepare the students for the interview competition at Skills USA, he works with industry leaders for mock interviews while also helping the students make connections with employers while they are still in school. 

As the YKSD welding program continues to evolve, it has expanded to offer drivingcourses to help students get their drivers licenses. Cavan said he saw that the studentshad skills and certifications that were desirable to employers, but a hindrance to gainingemployment was their lack of a driver’s license.

The YKSD CTE program received permission from the State of Alaska to proctor the permit testfor student drivers. Now, when students come to Fairbanks for camps, they can takethem out driving in a student vehicle. YKSD is in the process ofreceiving certification from the state to be an authorized third party that can offer adrivers test—streamlining the process for students to receive their driver’s license.

As the program continues to grow, YKSD has worked to build and updateinfrastructures in the ten school communities served by YKSD so students can train anddevelop their welding skills in their home communities. “By the end of this year, almostall of our communities will have a 220 plug. I’ve gotten wire feeds out to them. Some ofthe sites have dedicated welding booths,” Cavan said.

As YKSD prepares for the 2024-2025 school year, the districtadded a new welding teacherto help support the program.The district will continue to grow opportunities for students to prepare them for success after high school.