Students interested in welding continue to rise with over 60 students for the past several years wanting to obtain welding skills. Arcadia High School has had nine welding booths that were a tight fit for students and equipment. With the continued interest, the School District of Arcadia along with Nelson Global Products and Ashley Furniture saw the opportunity and developed a plan to build more welding booths that fit out students' needs.

At the end of the 2021-2022 school year students helped demolish the old concrete booths and completed the clean-up to the area where the new booths would be built. This past summer, John Peterson, Loren Bown, Nelson Global engineers, and high school students designed and built the framework for the new welding booths. Once the framework was completed, it was transported to Nelson Global to receive a full paint job. They also donated and cut all the remaining steel that was used for the sides, backing and the welding tables for the lab. 

The first welding class of 2022-2023 helped finish putting the fourteen booths together and were excited to have access to more welders during class. Students now have access to six MIG welders and eight stick welders. Four of the stick welders can also be used for TIG welding. Thank you to Ashley Furniture Industries, the Arcadia SkillsUSA chapter received a grant that purchased the remaining TIG welders and welding helmets that allow students to have a safe, productive, and enjoyable experience learning how to weld. The next project is building the torch welding and plasma cutting stations. The students are currently helping design and build these projects as well.  

Thank you to Nelson Global Products, Ashley Furniture Industries, School District of Arcadia students and Loren Bown for helping bring out dreams to life and allowing students the opportunities to learn the skills needed to fulfill their career in the welding industry.