Camp offers crash course to teens about welding and careers in skilled trades

The SPARK! IVCC Jr. Welding Academy attendees worked on projects of a variety of sizes during the week-long camp, including tables and fire pits.

Odds are most teenagers don’t want to spend any of their summer break at a community college campus, even if it is only for a week.

But in late June, that is exactly what a dozen teenagers did at Illinois Valley Community College (IVCC) in Oglesby, Ill. For one week, they received a crash course in welding as part of the SPARK! IVCC Jr. Welding Academy, one of several summer manufacturing camps funded by the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation (NBT), the official foundation of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association.

“It was really fun this week,” said 14-year-old Collin Coss.

Summer Projects

Like everyone else, Declan Kulpa left the welding summer camp with a finished project he could call his own. Camp attendees had the option to build a fire pit, table, or bird feeder. Kulpa opted for the table, as did most of the kids. Some saw the table as a stool.

“It’s a table/stool with slanted legs that lead up to the table/top part of it,” Kulpa said of his project.

The 14-year-old had to cut the 14-ga. square tubing for the legs and an 11-ga. plate for the top. Kulpa said he used an angle saw to cut the slants on the legs. The legs measured 22 in.; the angle of the legs was 30 degrees.

“I then used MIG to weld it together,” he added.

It is Kulpa’s second summer attending a welding-related camp. It should be no surprise then that he’s considering welding as a future career path, preferably something in automotive, and he already has a favorite welding process.

“My favorite is MIG. I’ve used it more often and I think it’s just easier for starting out,” Kulpa said.

Coss opted to make the fire pit, which required him to measure and cut the pieces of steel, make sure everything was square, and weld it all together.

The demand for the camp was strong. Molln said they had a wait list of around 20 teens; she hopes they can register everyone interested in 2024.

“We learned how to weld, how to be safe, and about the jobs that you can have as a welder,” Coss said.

Sparking the Future

The camp wasn’t just about going home with a table or fire pit.

On one of the days, camp instructor Theresa Molln, program coordinator for welding technology at IVCC, had the attendees build a hexagon out of pieces of sheet metal. This taught them how to cut, how to weld, and the role math plays in metalwork (in this case, working with geometric shapes).

“I thought it was going to take them a little while longer, but they were all speedy guys,” she said of the campers, who completed the hexagons in just one day.

The students were taught how to stick weld and how to MIG weld. Molln said camp attendees seemed to prefer MIG welding given it is easier to grasp for those new to welding.

“They like the MIG because it’s less cleaning, you don’t have to chip and scratch,” said Molln.

Camp instructors wanted to nurture the teens’ curiosities as well. One attempt to cater to this was a scrap metal art project some of them undertook. The group wound up making a small home/shelter.

The camp also helped campers connect what they learned to local welding career opportunities. For instance, attendees spent the entire week working inside IVCC’s welding lab, the same lab where college students work toward welding degrees or certificates.

Employees from Carus LLC, Peru, Ill., HCC, Inc., Mendota, Ill., and Vactor, Streator, Ill., visited the camp and spoke to the teens. And on the last day, organizers took the group on a field trip to Valley Fabrication in LaSalle, Ill., a short drive north of Oglesby, to tour its shop. Valley Fabrication is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023.

“It's a well-paying job and it’s so fun to do,” Kulpa said of welding jobs.

A dozen students participated in the SPARK! IVCC Jr. Welding Academy at Illinois Valley Community College this summer. The week-long camp taught attendees how to weld, cut, and the potential education and career opportunities welding provides.

The demand for the camp was strong. Molln said they had a wait list of around 20 teens; she hopes they can register everyone interested in 2024.

“We couldn’t accommodate them all,” she said. “I may try to see if we can do one morning and one evening camp [in 2024].”

Attendees learned how to cut and weld at the college’s welding lab, the same facility where college students aim to earn welding degrees and certificates.