Missouri welding instructor wins national award, prize money for welding program

For many individuals, teaching is a calling. It’s not a profession for anyone seeking fame and fortune and it requires hard work, sacrifice, patience, and a lot of juggling. The rewards usually aren’t quantifiable.

Brent Trankler felt the pull to become a welding teacher almost immediately. He learned how to weld while working as a mechanic in the Army. Once his service was complete, he worked in maintenance full time while he took classes to earn a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology.

Never one to stop learning, Trankler pursued a second bachelor’s degree in industrial arts. That’s where he discovered teaching.

“I worked second shift so I could student-teach during the day. I did that just to have teaching in my back pocket as a Plan B, but it ended up being my Plan A. I’ve always been a tinkerer at heart, so my first master’s degree is a Master of Science with an emphasis on industrial education. Then I got another master’s degree in administration with the goal of one day being a career-ed director,” Trankler explained.

Now as welding instructor at Sikeston Career and Technology Center (SCTC), Sikeston, Mo., he is living his dream of giving back.

“Growing up, the people who mentored me made a significant impact on my life. I’m almost 38 years old and I can still look back on those people who steered me in the right direction and showed me a path that I never even knew existed. It’s good to be able to give back,” Trankler added.

And now, thanks to the philanthropic foundation of Harbor Freight Tools founder Eric Smidt, giving back just got a little easier.

Trankler won first place in the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, which recognizes extraordinary public high school skilled trades teachers and programs. The program, which began in 2017, awards $1 million to programs around the nation each year. As first-place winner, Trankler and SCTC received $100,000—$70,000 going to the school and $30,000 going to Trankler.

The WELDER caught up with Trankler to talk about the honor, his program, and how he plans to use the prize money.

TW: Can you tell me a little bit about your welding program?

Trankler: I have roughly 25 kids per block, or 25 kids an hour. We run in three-hour blocks, and then I have an advisory period which is separate from all of that. The lab itself has 27 operational booths.

We’ve done the AWS SENSE program for the last eight or nine years. We want students to get through all of the D1.1 structural standard. My grand goal is for them to do all of the curriculum for the American Petroleum Institute (API) specification for pipe, so that when they graduate they can go the structural or the pipe route. My class allows each student to set their own pace. I want the kids to get good at what they’re doing before they move on, so some don’t finish all of the pipe stuff, but I don’t want to hold the others back who are excelling through it.

The students learn every welding process. I have around $350,000 of equipment in the lab, so we’ve been really blessed. Last year I won the AWS workforce development grant, which allowed us to add some new pulse welding equipment. This Harbor Freight Tools for Schools award is just going to push us over the edge.

I’m a hands-on person, and just being in the educational system I have to wear a lot of hats throughout the day. I run two classes at one time—Welding I and Welding II. Right now we’re doing introductory SMAW with the Welding I kids. Some of my Welding II kids are out on internship, some are building projects, and others are working on a very specific weld contest piece. I feel like I’m running around with all of those things happening at the same time. These kids will work together a lot of the time, which is great. I’ll try and do a demo with each of them and then I let them go to work. I’m out in the shop the whole time so if they need anything, I’m right there.

TW: How would you describe your teaching style and your program’s overall culture?

Trankler: I have a lot of flaws, but I want to be someone my students can look to and see a good leader in action. A good leader doesn’t tell you what to do; a good leader shows you how to do it and will work with you to perfect it.

Everything we do in the lab comes directly from a standard, so I have to explain what that standard is and how to follow it. I never give them busy work or meaningless tasks. The kids know I’m giving them work based on what the code says, whether it’s AWS, API, or something else. I want to make sure they understand the reason behind things.

Aside from that, I make it a point to get to know all of these kids personally. We draw students from 12 different schools, but I try to get to know everyone personally and make it to their graduations. It means a lot to them. I meet their families, I know who they are, and after 11 years I still keep up with all of them after they leave. I’m not on Facebook, so my phone is constantly ringing, and that’s OK. If a kid calls me and they’ve had a layoff or something, then I want to help them.

TW: Describe the selection process for the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools award and what led you to enter.

Trankler: I had to answer questions about myself and my program, and then there were some more in-depth questions. From there it went to video responses that were pretty specific about various situations. I easily put 100 hours of my time into this, and it’s not just the time spent typing; it’s time spent thinking and reflecting.

I felt really good about my application, but I know there’s a lot of talented career and tech teachers out there doing things differently than me. We have a lot of good things happening in this program, and some of the statistics are really impressive.

But ultimately it’s the kids. Success breeds success, and I get kids in here year after year who just work, and when they leave they go out and do fantastic things in industry.

TW: Describe the moment when you found out that you had won.

Trankler: It was a total surprise. Once a year we do a SkillsUSA fun day where we play games and try to build camaraderie among the group. So, I was actually outside with the kids that day having a kickball tournament. My boss came out to the field and told me there was a problem in the shop, so we went back to the lab and I was surprised to see a bunch of people from industry, a state representative was there, my family was there, and that’s when they told me I had won.

I knew that they were going to announce the winner that day, but it seemed like such a normal day that I just assumed I didn’t win. I figured I would have been able to tell if something was off. I’m a pretty observant person and I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, so they got me for sure.

TW: How do you plan to use the prize money?

Trankler: I’ve got all kinds of things on my wish list, but the main ones are updating our CNC technology and the sawing process. The $70,000 prize is a tremendous amount of money, and I’ve never before had that big of a burst of cash to spend. I’m going to consult my advisory committee and some industrial professionals because I want to make sure I’m spending the money on the right stuff.

We currently have a 4 x 4 CNC plasma table, but I’d like to upgrade to a 5 x 10. We just got into Real World Scholars, which was part of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools learning experience. What that means is we’re making real-world products and we’re having the kids design and pitch ideas, and we’re going to sell our products on a website that we just designed. This is all brand new to me. The 5 x 10 will let us make bigger products and it will give us a little more flexibility.

I also want to add some attachments to our Piranha ironworker and a new saw. There’s nothing wrong with the saw that we have, but I’d like something that has a little more functionality to it. I’ve got some pulse welding equipment already, but I might add more. And then I want a shelf to store my flat stock.

TW: What is your best piece of advice for young welders?

Trankler: Just stay focused and don’t get sidetracked. If you have a goal in mind, go after it. You might have to take a few different paths, but that’s all right.

Make sure to have the right outlook on your job and focus on your soft skills. Give your employers your best because you’ll get more out of the experience. Be a sponge. When you’re around someone who is a senior welder, absorb everything that they’re doing, ask questions, and don’t be scared to learn.

You’re not going to know everything in your first year. And if you’re doing it right, you won’t know everything in your 50th year. Learn, adapt, and give them your best. You expect them to give you their best, so you have to do it in return.