On Wednesday, Feb. 21, the Ellsworth High School career and technical education area was abuzz with sparks, not only from the oxyacetylene torches, but from the enthusiastic students themselves in Rob Heller’s Intro to Welding class.

EHS Principal Oran Nehls invited area industry representatives and partners into the welding class to see for themselves that not only are the trades thriving at EHS, they’re exploding.

Ten years ago, it would have been uncommon to see a welding class filled with female students. Such is not the case today at EHS, where 12 of the 25 students in the class are female. Heller, who has taught at EHS for 10 years, said he might have had one or two girls in a class when he first started.

“About five years ago we had some students that tried it and really enjoyed it,” Heller said. “During an exploratory period last year we had Women in Welding, a girls only welding class so they could come in and ask questions so they didn’t feel judged. This year we’ve seen a massive influx.”

Heller said once he and fellow technical education teacher Julie Winegar saw how much the girls were enjoying themselves, they knew they had to keep the ball rolling.

“Once we saw how they were good at it, sometimes better than the boys, we knew we had to tap into those resources and make them aware of the opportunities available to them,” Heller said. “Over the past 35 years, the whole idea of women in industry has changed. There are definitely more involved in the trades. It has become more acceptable as times change and progress.

“It’s been kind of fun to see women in general welding or taking part in our wood classes, seeing that it’s not just for boys. It presents them with different opportunities.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor & Statistics, roughly 6% of welders are women in the United States. That number is expected to increase. Heller said a few female students have already told him they want to take advanced welding courses or pursue it as a career.

Ellsworth Community School District is one of many that partners with Chippewa Valley Technical College through its Welding Academy. The Academy helps students get their foot in the door, earns them college credits while in high school, and gives them valuable industry experience before they even graduate.

In Wednesday’s class, Heller said he exposes students to the process of welding and what it is.

“We do a lot of SMAW (shielded metal arc welding or stick welding), the kind dad and grandpa did in their garage,” Heller said. “We also expose our kids to wire feed (gas metal arc welding) and TIG (gas tungsten arc welding) in the advanced classes. We’re all about introducing and exposing them to the processes. This is what welding is, this is what it’s capable of.”

Jillian Griggs, who is a senior, thought welding would be a nice break from her AP college classes.

“I thought it would be a fun skill to learn,” she said. “I haven’t done any shop things, but when I was little I used to play with wood and nails. I thought it would be a good skill to know, to work my way around a shop.”

Griggs likes the quarter-long class because it’s more hands-on, while other classes are about memorization. By the end, she and her classmates will have made a grill for cooking meat.

“Safety equipment is very important. It’s really easy to burn yourself. It takes coordination and multi-tasking,” Griggs said as she demonstrated moving the end of the stick in little circles. “You have to make sure you’re not keeping it in the same place too long. I am not great at multi-tasking, most girls are, but this will help improve that.”

Students also learn how to use metal saws, grinders and other machinery. Griggs likes the fact that she will have those skills, which might come in handy.

“My family friend needs something welded for her window, because some part of it broke. And I was like sure, I will bring in her window grade and weld it together. I can do it, I can get it done. It’s really fun and it’s a fun way to learn about something completely different,” she smiled. “I’m probably not going to weld every day for the rest of my life, but it’s a good skill to have. It’s good to know how it works.”

Senior Aubrey Wittenberg also wanted to try something different. She had no idea what to expect.

“It was definitely intimidating for me in here because some of the boys knew what they were doing,” Wittenberg said. “Now I’m more confident and comfortable in what I’m doing. A few of the girls had done it before, and I saw a few friends were in here. I thought it could be a fun thing for all of us to learn.

Personally, this has definitely taught me I can do other things. I plan to go into more of an environmental science career, but to have this in my background is great.”

Junior Genevieve Cady wants to pursue welding as a career and will take part in the CVTC Welding Academy next year.

“My grandparents got me my welding helmet when I was 11. I was interested in it and that kind of sparked my curiosity in it and I started weldimg at home on little scrap metal pieces,” Cady said. “I really started to like it. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I was older, so I thought it would be a great job.”

She advises other girls to go for it.

“You’ll only get better the more you practice,” she said.

Trade reps

Mark Tyler, the owner of OEM Fabricators in Woodville, Neillsville and Phillips, is excited about the classes offered at Ellsworth.

“I think when you’re in a rural area, I think sometimes people don’t understand the opportunities that are in the neighborhood. There’s a lot of manufacturing right in our area that people don’t know about. We call it industrial camouflage. The Oompa Loompas go in and come out, which is a 25-year-old image of what reality is.

“Part of the reason we’re interested here, we currently work with six different districts in Pathways to manufacturing. The investment that Ellsworth is looking to make in CTE really dovetails with our mission.”

As part of an April 2 referendum question, the district is asking voters to approve (among other projects) investing $8.5 million in the EHS CTE area, which would include a 5,800-square-foot addition, remodeling the current 11,500-square-foot space and upgrading utilities.

“A primary focus of our work in the CTE area is to provide students with greater experiences that better prepare them for the career opportunities in the trades and manufacturing as a whole,” said Supt. Barry Cain. “The proposed changes in the area will allow us to continue to build the relationships with area businesses to both provide internship and apprenticeship opportunities for them while also providing them with inroads to quality jobs within these businesses.”

According to Tyler, welders can make up to $60,00 to $70,000 per year starting, while machinists can make up to $80,000. Other higher paying jobs include accounting, supervision and IT.

“Ideally, we like to hire locally,” Tyler said. “People stick better when they’re from the area. Years ago, parents always wanted their kids to go get a four-year degree or a master’s, then they’d go off to somewhere else. Parents are now taking a look at other opportunities, family supporting salaries and benefits close to home and they’re not leaving the state.”

Tyler said many tradespeople are retiring, causing a huge decline in the workforce. That’s why partnerships with schools are so important.

“We want to engage students early. We just want to catch those kids,” Tyler said.

He has seen more women in welding and machining careers and believes they can do the job well.

“What we’ve found, women have a little bit different skillset,” Tyler said. “They’re better at finessing parts than men are. Our experience is they tend to more careful and somewhat more deliberate in high complexity situations to have a different skillset to bring to the table. Any time you have a shop, you need a wide variety of skillsets and approaches. We’re seeing women in manufacturing grow. Our president is a woman. I retired 4.5 years ago and if I had known how well she was going to do, I would have retired earlier. We want our doors open to everybody and certainly, there are high paying opportunities that oftentimes aren’t being considered.”

Shaun Hanson, the assistant plant manager at Meyer Utility Structures in Hager City, is thrilled with the number of welding students and their enthusiasm at EHS.

“When we look at them being actively engaged and learning these skills, whether they’re going to use them in the long-term, to have this in their back pocket really puts them in the driver’s seat to make any pivotal lifestyle changed. They’re the Future of what we need in manufacturing and trades,” Hanson said.

The number of steelworkers and welders is declining, he said. The generations before are retiring and the need for more workers is dire, especially with the number of infrastructure projects around the country.

“We definitely need to create a backfield in order to sustain a workforce,” Hanson said. “ It's very encouraging to see the interest from these kids.”

Hanson said he grew up in Ellsworth and lives 8 miles north of Meyer Utility. He drove by it hundreds of times before he knew what it was.

“We’re one of the major competitors in utility structures throughout the entire nation,” Hanson said. “I think the most important part is going to be not only setting these kids up for success, but it’s also providing the opportunity that they are going to need to springboard them, get them ahead of the curve, so they aren’t starting from scratch. They understand the opportunities that are available to them if they have the skillset.

“I think one of the biggest things we’re starting to see across the spectrum, is a lot of companies are changing their hiring based on skillset and based on what you can do versus based on credentials. No matter what you do or where you are going to be placed, getting a job is based on whether or not you can pass a welding test or having that ability to do what you need to do. The quicker we can get these kids set up the better off we’re going to be. Sometimes it’s as simple as creating the interest.”

Education

Sawyer Sturz, a high school academy specialist advisor at CVTC, works directly with students in CVTC’s academies, which offer opportunities in business, healthcare, manufacturing and trades.

“We are connected with Ellsworth and in general because we offer one of our academies in welding at the old Moody’s building in River Falls,” Sturz said.

This session’s academy had 12 students, and they’ve increased it to 16 with plans to further expand.

“We’ve seen more need,” Sturz said. “Ellsworth is kind of busting at the seams. Even though we have a limited number of spots, throughout the year, it’s 36 (fall or spring).”

CVTC hosts academies throughout the region, in Eau Claire, Cadott, Osseo-Fairchild and Bloomer. He said he has seen more women enter the trades in the past two years.

“I think it’s because schools are willing to push this a little bit more. Maybe one girl spearheads it and took part in an academy and was able to bring it back to their classmates,” Sturz said. “The most important thing about an academy is that you’re not locked in. It’s more of an exploratory thing where you’re taking nine credits, if this isn’t for me, you take away experience and nine credits. It’s not something that you have to do forever.”

Students can also be put on a list for advanced placement. Sturz said 12 AP spots are available and since they’ve completed the credits through the academy, high school seniors can submit a traditional application and jump the waiting list.

“We’re excited to see what happens with the referendum,” Sturz said. “We’re hopeful enough community support can get this thing going and it would allow us to potentially expand some of our opportunities in welding.”

Katie Feuerhelm, an educational consultant in CTE through CESA 11, writes grants for the Department of Workforce Development Youth Apprenticeship program for 32 school districts. YA consists of work and classroom instruction in a chosen occupation. Training is received on the job from the employer. Feuerhelm said she works with 265 employers to place 400 students, and 15-20 of those are at Ellsworth.

“It can be made to work for any job, such an automotive, production, manufacturing, logistics, education, healthcare. If the student is interested in it, we’ll find a way for it to work,” Feuerhelm said.  

The grant funds can be used for anything that supports a student at work, such as a dual credit course, required job training, books, materials, etc. Courses at school, such as the welding classes at EHS, are important because they enhance what they’re learning in the workplace, Feuerhelm said.

To learn more about the Ellsworth referendum, visit https://www.ellsworth.k12.wi.us/page/facility-referendum-2024