Over the summer, juniors and senior high school students had the opportunity to participate in an advanced welding skills pathway to earn OSHA certification. As the stud
ents earned their own certificates, they also mentored younger high school and middle school students. This program is led by Welding teacher, Brent Tuttle, who won the 2020 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.
Through this program, the upperclassmen mentored 39 middle school students who built charcuterie boards and barbeques and La Mirada High School hosted many mobile training courses for middle schools as well, to teach introductory carpentry and construction skills.
According to the American Welding Society (AWS) Foundation, it expects welding to encounter a shortage of 360,000 welding professionals by 2027. As a result, an average of 90,000 welding jobs will need to be filled annually between 2023–2027.
