Did you learn to weld in high school?

[gocanes719]

Thaks for the replies guys. As far as equipment goes, the shop is full as it is. I don't really have any room for any more O/A equipment and the school doesn't really prefer we use it based on it being so dangerous. I have one cart that sits in the corner of the shop that we use a rosebud on. I just want the kids to be able to learn how to run a bead and to put a couple of pieces of material together in different positions. They do a wood working skill and we repair, refinish and paint in the class as well. We also have a metals class that the students can take and build there own projects. I am looking for a good arc welding skill I can turn a student loose on that will really help them to become proficient and running beads. I get spread pretty thin when we have 6 booths going and two students in each booth.

I can see why the one reply on here stated they shut down the shop because the students wanted to build weapons and chinese stars. That is a constant battle. For whatever reason students that take these courses think they are going to walk in the first day, put on a welding helmet and weld everyday. The truth of the matter is, you get them started welding and most of them weld a week to two weeks and quit on it because they have no desire to continue. It is really easy to tell who wants to learn to weld and who took a class because they thought they were getting out of book work.