The San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE) hosted its First Annual Welding Showdown before the end of the school year.
In total, 12 welders from SJCOE’s Venture Academy Family of Schools and Patterson High School took part.
John Herger, Welding and Mechanical Construction Instructor at Venture Academy, said the showdown came after a conversation he had with the instructor from Patterson High School. “Let’s do something together where these kids get a chance to show off what they did in the school year,” he said.
So that’s what they did, complete with a Bar-be-cue.
For the contest, students needed to show their skills in performing a series of 10 types of welds in a practical exam. These welds were judged by business partners and the welding instructor from San Joaquin Delta College. The top-five contestants all came from the Venture Academy Family of Schools.
They were:
- First Place: Ryan Boker, Delta VISTA
- Second Place: Jordan Boker, ImagineIT
- Third Place: Nathaniel Thompson, ImagineIT
- Fourth Place: James Harris, BrainworX
- Fifth Place: Anthony Parks, ImagineIT
(Pictured, from left, Jordan Boker demonstrates a welding technique, Nathaniel Thompson, Jordan Boker and Ryan Boker.)