Brandon Stankiewicz will be paying extra-close attention when he sees a semitruck on the road.
After all, he and his peers in the welding program at Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center may have made the truck’s battery box. Students there partnered with a Shelocta-based trucking company to weld 15 battery boxes this spring.
“It’ll be cool to see one of these on the back of a truck,” said Stankiewicz, 17, and a Valley High School junior.
The opportunity to gain real-life experience and an increasing demand for qualified welders are contributing to the growth in numbers and grant funding for the welding program at Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center.
“For the last seven or eight years, we’ve been consistently one of the top programs in Pa., and it shows,” said George Kirk, a program instructor.
As evidence of that, Kirk points to a “Wall of Fame” in the welding classroom filled with news articles, plaques and certificates of current and former students’ success finding jobs or winning welding competitions.
“Everybody wants to be part of that success,” he said.
Kirk previously worked as a welder and became the welding instructor at Northern Westmoreland — which serves students from Burrell, Franklin Regional, Kiski Area and New Kensington-Arnold school districts — a decade ago.
There were 30 welding students in Kirk’s first year; there will be 96 students in the program next year.
Northern Westmoreland had to add another instructor, Austin Toy, this year to accommodate the growing numbers. It’s the highest subscribed program at Northern Westmoreland, said Jason Hicks, school director.
“We have a fantastic teaching staff, and it’s an in-demand career in our local region,” Hicks said.
The American Welding Society projects a need for more than 320,000 new welding professionals by 2029. That’s why it’s important for companies to support programming that teaches and prepares future welders, said Troy Gerber, account manager with Airgas, a Delaware County-based national supplier of industrial gases, safety gear and hardware.
Airgas earlier this month selected Northern Westmoreland as one of 72 schools nationwide — and the only one in Pennsylvania — to be part of its Welding Education Initiative. Northern Westmoreland received a $9,000 grant that it used to purchase equipment, Hicks said.
“It helps our students be able to keep up with the current industry,” he said.
About 43% of welders are 45 or older.
“To keep our industry sustained, we want to do anything we can to help programs like this,” Gerber said.
There are numerous jobs students can pursue in welding, Kirk said, including manufacturing, pipe and underwater welding. He said he used to be hesitant to tell students they could make six-figure salaries, but with current job climates and the need for welders, it’s becoming more possible.
The national median salary for welding jobs is $55,600, according to the American Welding Society. Median salaries for other related careers include $60,000 for a welding technician, $78,000 for a welding inspector, $71,000 for a boilermaker, $68,000 for an underwater welder, $115,000 for a research scientist, $62,000 for an ironworker and $69,000 for a pipeliner.
Student Brent Hickey, 18, plans to join the Boilermakers union after graduating from Franklin Regional and Northern Westmoreland this spring.
“I knew college was not the path for me,” Hickey said. “My dad talked about welding, and it piqued my interest.”
Northern Westmoreland gives prospective students the opportunity to test the waters, he said. Stankiewicz noted that welding is difficult: welders can get burns, the workspace can get hot, and a welder’s precision and control are paramount.
But there’s nothing Stankiewicz or Hickey would rather do.
“I can’t see myself doing anything other than welding,” he said. “It’s a passion. It’s not really a job, it’s something I enjoy doing.”
The Northern Westmoreland shop is akin to a real-life workspace, Stankiewicz said. He’s built a lockout/tagout board for the shop that has garnered praise from employers; students also have built welding workspaces.
“I personally think there will always be a place for welders,” Stankiewicz said. “There’s so much opportunity there. You could weld at a shop, you could weld and climb buildings; there’s endless opportunities out there.”