Illinois high school welding program builds grills, well-rounded students

The welding program at Harlem High School, Machesney Park, Ill., builds elaborate and well-crafted grills for first responders, nonprofits, and military veteran organizations. In the process it is strengthening soft skills in students and shedding light on welding and fabricating careers. Photo courtesy of Bill Duncan

This was supposed to be a story about a really cool grill built by students in a high school welding program. But after meeting instructor Bill Duncan and student Patrick Stroup, it quickly became clear that the grill was just a small part of the story. The real story is how a teacher with not enough space can adapt and organize the energy and varying skill sets of 54 students during the school year to complete elaborate grills and other projects for organizations that mean a great deal to him—which in turn also tend to mean a great deal to his students.

In many respects, the welding program at Harlem High School in Machesney Park, Ill., is its own entity. For starters, it’s located in a small building near the school district’s bus depot approximately 10 minutes from the school’s main campus.

During the course of the day, three classes comprising 18 students board school buses and make the 10-minute ride off-site to attend class. When they walk in, it’s not uncommon to find Duncan at his desk with classic rock blaring in the background. Once students get situated, they get to work.

The classroom culture is one of respect and accountability. In addition to welding and fabricating skills, Duncan’s class teaches critical thinking, attention to detail, teamwork, and service.

“There’s always a little something for everyone. Not everyone is going to choose this as a career, and not everyone is going to get how to do it all. Even if someone is able to master the band saw to cut the pieces and that’s all they do, that’s great. They’re engaged. They aren’t sitting there on their phone. Some people are going to excel and go further and some aren’t. But no matter what, everyone has a place, and they identify where their place is all on their own,” Duncan said.

His program and his students have earned attention and high praise over the years for the elaborate and well-crafted grills they have built for first responders, nonprofits, and military veteran organizations.

Teaching Welding, Service to Others

Duncan, a Marine veteran, worked in industry for a while before he turned to teaching. When he took over the Harlem welding program 13 years ago, he wanted to make sure it didn’t become something that was a typical repetitive weld training process. He wanted the class to be something that kept everyone interested, engaged, and motivated regardless of their skill sets or future ambitions. He also believes in helping people and organizations that put their lives on the line for others.

That’s where the grills came in. In his 13 years as instructor, Duncan’s classes have designed and fabricated 22 custom grills, and many of them go toward helping individuals or organizations doing good work for the community.

In 2018 the class designed, fabricated, and delivered a grill to Kirk and Gretchen Catherwood, who own and operate Darkhorse Lodge, a veterans retreat in Springville, Tenn. The Catherwoods’ son, Alec, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010. The grill itself was huge—it was built on a boat trailer and fabricated using a 500-lb. propane tank and two halves of a 275-gallon drum. It is being used during fundraising events to help the retreat expand.

In 2019 the class made an elaborate grill that looked like a replica fire engine for the Harlem Roscoe Fire Department, which serves Machesney Park, Ill., and Roscoe, Ill. One of Duncan’s students at the time, John Hawkins, was training with the department, so it seemed like a good fit.

Instructor Bill Duncan and the Harlem High School welding program have earned attention and high praise over the years for the elaborate and well-crafted grills they have built for first responders, nonprofits, and military veteran organizations. They designed, built, and delivered this grill to the Harlem Roscoe Fire Department last spring. Photo courtesy of Bill Duncan

“After a month of trailer prep and finalizing the design by staring at fire trucks in their fleet, we settled on an engine unit look. We have a base design that we use for certain grills, but this one was kind of different and it needed to stand out. I let John and the rest of them run with it, run into their problems, and get them straightened out,” Duncan said.

All the parts were made by the hands of the students. The intricate design work, spearheaded by former student Madisyn Gould, was completed on the program’s OMAX Maxiem 1515 waterjet.

“She’d draw an image, create it, and then cut it out on the waterjet,” Duncan said.

After a year of work, the class delivered the finished product last June.

This year’s class has taken on two large-scale projects. The first is a grill for Operation Combat Bikesaver, a nonprofit in Crown Point, Ind., that teaches military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) the fabricating and building skills necessary to rebuild and restore a motorcycle. At the end of the build the veteran gets to keep the finished product.

They are also building the structural metal work for a float for the Vietnam Vets of America.

Building More Than Just Grills

Duncan is fully aware that a large percentage of his students will never actually apply the technical skills they learn in class. That’s OK by him. But there’s always one or two who discover that welding, fabricating, or metalworking is their calling.

Like Stroup, who is in his second year in the class. Stroup’s father is a welder, so he came in with a little more knowledge than most.

“This was the class I was most excited about ever since I started high school. When I finally got to take it, I just fell in love with welding even more,” Stroup said.

Photo courtesy of Bill Duncan

Duncan has given Stroup and a couple of other classmates the responsibility of being an extension of him in the shop.

“Every year I get lucky and have a student who can serve as my right hand. This year it’s Patrick and two of his classmates. I had them last year and I count on them. They know what I expect and what has to be done. This year their contributions are really important because we are really pinned to the wall with our projects,” Duncan added.

Gould, who graduated from Harlem last spring, had never even considered metalworking or welding until she enrolled in Duncan’s class. That’s where she was introduced to the waterjet, which Duncan said she took to immediately. Gould agreed.

“What drew me in the most was the creative factor. With the waterjet you could draw up just about anything—your mind is the limit with that machine,” Gould said.

By Gould’s second semester, Duncan had helped her secure a job at a local shop working with their waterjet.

Since graduating Gould has moved to Ohio and is in the process of enrolling at Owens Community College in Toledo to study welding.

“I never really thought about doing anything welding or shop-related until I started to take Duncan’s class. Within the first few days I realized that this was something I wanted to pursue,” Gould said.

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