Earning a high school diploma and welding certification at the same time?

Hampshire High School is one of two Illinois high schools northwest of Chicago that are AWS accredited testing facilities. Hampshire High School

Many high school seniors spend the last weeks of the school year stressed out enough with final exams and projects, senioritis, post-high school plans, prom, and graduation.

This past May, a few students at Elgin High School in Elgin, Ill., had another stressor on their plates: earning American Welding Society (AWS) certification.

The students who take welding at this high school are in a unique position. Not only does the school have a welding program in-house, the welding lab is an AWS accredited testing facility (ATF). Only five high schools nationally are accredited testing facilities, according to the AWS.

Welding student Will Zamecnik did not hide his thoughts on what it felt like getting tested: “It was probably the most nerve-wracking thing in my 17 years.”

“It was pretty nerve-wracking,” added Cathy Morales, another student. “But I think our teachers prepared us well, how the test was going to be, and they tried their best to teach us everything we needed to know beforehand.”

Elgin is not the only high school in the Chicago area listed as an ATF. Eighteen miles away, Hampshire High School also boasts the designation.

Students, educators, and welders at these two schools said this rare opportunity lifts several hurdles for students and employers alike.

“It would make me happy, for these last four years that I’ve been welding, to say that I was able to pass a pretty hard test that no one can just jump into,” said student Jose Morales.

The fact two high schools in close proximity to one another are both ATFs is no coincidence. The two schools, their school districts, and one other school system collaborated to create a regional welding program to foster and produce the next generation of welders.

A Pathway Into Welding

School District U-46, School District 300, and Central Community Unit School District 301 – all about an hour northwest of Chicago – collaborated to form a network of Regional Career Pathways programs for high schoolers interested in welding; other programs include automotive technology, precision manufacturing, and veterinary assistant.

High school seniors at two Illinois high school welding programs can earn AWS certification just in time for graduation, opening potential routes into welding jobs, technical and trade schools, internships, and more. Rafael Guerrero

The respective welding labs at U-46's Elgin High School and District 300’s Hampshire High School provide access to gas metal arc welding (GMAW), gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), and shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) machines, equipment, and more. From sophomore through senior year, students in these programs take Fundamentals of Welding and Welding I and II.

The objective? For students to earn credentials at the end of their high school careers.

In the regional welding program, students can earn D1.1 3G (straight-line welding in the flat, horizontal, and vertical positions) weld certification in SMAW and GMAW at their high school. Students must successfully weld together two pieces of 3/8-in. steel.

As part of the certification examination, third-party inspectors test and verify the welds. The inspectors eventually put the plates through an X-ray machine to check for flaws, cracks, slag inclusions, and other impurities. The certified welding inspectors (CWI) involved in the certification process do not know the students or the welding teachers.

“Having them watching you is kind of scary,” Zamecnik said of the CWIs during testing.

The test takes about two hours.

“It’s pretty hard, to be honest,” said student Freddie Petrona. “We had to make sure everything was right, make sure the weld was going right. It was kind of hard and time consuming; you had to make sure everything was perfect.”

“It’s excitement and being nervous. It's like I’m taking this test,” added Luis Guerrero, one of the school’s welding instructors.

Guerrero and fellow welding instructor Aaron Styles said it takes about a month to hear back from the third-party inspectors whether the students passed or failed.

“It takes them three years to get to this point ... I wish we didn’t have to call it a test, but it literally is what it is,” Styles said of the high-stakes test.

A banner at the Elgin High School welding lab reads: “Start Your Career Here,” “EHS Welding Classes,” “AWS Accredited Test Facility,” and “Full Industrial Certification.” Rafael Guerrero

This year, 19 students at Elgin and five at Hampshire underwent certification. In spring 2021, 10 of 16 students who tested at the two schools earned AWS certification, educators said.

Terry Stroh, the director of the multidistrict Northern Kane County Regional Vocational System, said both welding labs underwent a two-year process to become ATFs. The AWS completed a review of each school's instructors, curriculum, and facilities. The labs also had the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) come out and inspect the facilities. Each site will undergo a reaccreditation process every three years.

According to the AWS, Elgin and Hampshire earned their accreditation in 2018.

Certification and Post-High School Future

Styles said students have used their certification or the pursuit of their certification to get welding jobs before or after graduating high school or to pursue post-high school education.

One of last year’s graduates found a job locally and is living the dream, Styles said. The student has already come out to Styles’ class to talk to students about his experiences.

“He’s 19 years old, making good money, bought a new car, and is in the process of buying a new house,” Styles said.

“There's not a lack of jobs for these kids with certification,” he added.

Vince Serritella, the welding instructor at Hampshire High, said this opportunity taps into many needs: a shortage of welders, a push for more career and technical education programs in schools, greater access to hands-on high school courses, and molding future high school welding teachers.

Stroh, meanwhile, said there was hesitation from employers over AWS-certified teens – were they too young and inexperienced? Would companies require additional resources if they hired them?

“A couple of companies in the area, for the longest time, were very anti-high school students,” he said. “Now that they’ve seen the quality of work being done and toured the facilities, more and more they’re interested in having these students come and work for them.”

Nineteen students at Elgin High School, including the five pictured, tested in spring 2022 for AWS certification at their high school’s welding lab. Rafael Guerrero

Both Zamecnik and Jose Morales had welding jobs during the 2021-22 school year. Zamecnik wants to one day build boats in the South.

“[AWS certification] would move me from the bottom of the list to the top of the list,” Zamecnik said.

Jose Morales will be enlisting in the military after high school but hopes to get a welding job after.

“If you’re looking at it from an employer’s point of view, who are you going to hire? The one that says he has the experience but doesn’t have any certifications, or someone who comes out of here who passed the test?” Morales said.

In 2018, Leela Edwards became the second Illinois high school student to earn AWS certification. The former Hampshire High School student described herself as a “guinea pig” of sorts for the inaugural testing process.

“People were shocked—but also proud and impressed. It was mostly good feedback,” she said of her certification.

That opportunity in high school has made Edwards’ dreams of working in motorsports more feasible and realistic. She enrolled and completed a program at the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C.; enrolled at Harper College in Palatine, Ill.; and she plans to eventually get a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Edwards is also among the inaugural group of students in Chip Ganassi Racing and PNC Bank’s Women In Motorsports internship program, which debuted in 2022.

“This certification shows your work ethic, your innovation, and you striving to be successful. It just shows who you are as a person and what you hope to achieve,” she said.