Area Students Compete In Welding & Machining Contest
March 23, 2025 at 5:04 p.m.
Sparks flew and cuts were made during the third annual Northern Indiana Welding and Machining Contest Saturday at the Warsaw Area Career Center (WACC) welding and machining shops at Lakeview Middle School.
Competing were 35 welding and seven machining students from Whitko, Wawasee, Warsaw and Tippecanoe Valley for a stack full of prizes.
Jeremiah Paseka, WACC welding instructor, said, “We have some welding pipe to plate and the machining students are making a business card holder. The welding will be based upon a visual acceptance criteria. The machining students have a checklist they’re working their way through - tolerances and dimensions, things like that.”
Warsaw Area Career Center Precision Machine Technology instructor Matt Alexander (L) gives some guidance to Warsaw Community High School senior Kyle Williams (R) in the machining portion of the Northern Indiana Welding and Machining Contest Saturday. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionThe students competing were a mix of grades. Year one or two students typically are sophomores or juniors; about half of the welders are seniors in their third year of the program. They’re labeled as beginners or advanced.
Saturday’s contest was an open competition.
“We just sent out a Google form back in February and we took 15 students, and opened it up to the area schools and they sent students as well,” Paseka said.
It started at 8 a.m. Saturday and ran through noon, with Hogs R Wild BBQ lunch at 11 a.m. Paseka said there was a lot of extra activities to fill the time, sponsored by Purity Cylinder Gases and different businesses, such as a torch cutting contest and cylinder rolling.
Over the three years of the contest, Paseka said it’s grown exponentially.
“We started out, we had about 20 in our first year. Then we got closer to 30 in that second year. The prizes have grown with that. This year, we’re looking at $5,000 to $6,000 worth of prizes to be handed out to the divisions,” he said.
The big prize was a high-end welding helmet from Speedglas, sponsored by G & G Hauling & Excavating.
For the machining portion of the Northern Indiana Welding and Machining Contest Saturday, students had to make a piece of aluminum bar (R) into a pen and business card holder (L). Photo by David Slone, Times-Union“So, first place will walk away with a new welding helmet, some really nice Milwaukee tools, a basic welder, six-seven pairs of gloves, a new jacket, so really cool stuff I think,” Paseka stated.
According to information provided by instructor Nate Howett, advanced winners were Whitney Dawson, first; Eliza Paton, second; and Jose Guerrero, third. Beginning winners were Jonah Dodson, first; Jacob Forshtag, second; and Xavier Hall, third. Aaron Backus won the cylinder rolling contest; Whitney Dawson, torch cutting; and Dean Campbell and Anthony Burkheimer won bucket helmets.
Aaron Backus, Tippecanoe Valley High School, tries his hand at torch cutting Saturday during the Northern Indiana Welding and Machining Contest. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionPaseka said the welding program at WACC is in its 22nd year. He and Chris Morr have taught the program for those 22 years, with Morr passing the torch on to Paseka in 2014.
“We service about 140 kids from Warsaw and Tippy Valley. We’ve got machining and the welding combined programs in the last two years, so students are learning both sides of the skill set. It’s been great. We’re an accredited testing facility for the American Welding Society, so students that go through our program in length have a chance to earn their certifications and get a really good start on their careers,” Paseka explained.
Welding and machining are labeled as Hoosier Hot Jobs (now INDemand Jobs) and the demand for workers in the fields are growing regionally.
“We really try to push and find what they’re passionate about and (help them) make a career out of this,” Paseka said.
Find out more about WACC at https://www.warsaw.k12.in.us/o/wacc
Find out more about INDemand Jobs at https://indemandjobs.dwd.in.gov/
Sparks flew and cuts were made during the third annual Northern Indiana Welding and Machining Contest Saturday at the Warsaw Area Career Center (WACC) welding and machining shops at Lakeview Middle School.
Competing were 35 welding and seven machining students from Whitko, Wawasee, Warsaw and Tippecanoe Valley for a stack full of prizes.
Jeremiah Paseka, WACC welding instructor, said, “We have some welding pipe to plate and the machining students are making a business card holder. The welding will be based upon a visual acceptance criteria. The machining students have a checklist they’re working their way through - tolerances and dimensions, things like that.”
Warsaw Area Career Center Precision Machine Technology instructor Matt Alexander (L) gives some guidance to Warsaw Community High School senior Kyle Williams (R) in the machining portion of the Northern Indiana Welding and Machining Contest Saturday. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionThe students competing were a mix of grades. Year one or two students typically are sophomores or juniors; about half of the welders are seniors in their third year of the program. They’re labeled as beginners or advanced.
Saturday’s contest was an open competition.
“We just sent out a Google form back in February and we took 15 students, and opened it up to the area schools and they sent students as well,” Paseka said.
It started at 8 a.m. Saturday and ran through noon, with Hogs R Wild BBQ lunch at 11 a.m. Paseka said there was a lot of extra activities to fill the time, sponsored by Purity Cylinder Gases and different businesses, such as a torch cutting contest and cylinder rolling.
Over the three years of the contest, Paseka said it’s grown exponentially.
“We started out, we had about 20 in our first year. Then we got closer to 30 in that second year. The prizes have grown with that. This year, we’re looking at $5,000 to $6,000 worth of prizes to be handed out to the divisions,” he said.
The big prize was a high-end welding helmet from Speedglas, sponsored by G & G Hauling & Excavating.
For the machining portion of the Northern Indiana Welding and Machining Contest Saturday, students had to make a piece of aluminum bar (R) into a pen and business card holder (L). Photo by David Slone, Times-Union“So, first place will walk away with a new welding helmet, some really nice Milwaukee tools, a basic welder, six-seven pairs of gloves, a new jacket, so really cool stuff I think,” Paseka stated.
According to information provided by instructor Nate Howett, advanced winners were Whitney Dawson, first; Eliza Paton, second; and Jose Guerrero, third. Beginning winners were Jonah Dodson, first; Jacob Forshtag, second; and Xavier Hall, third. Aaron Backus won the cylinder rolling contest; Whitney Dawson, torch cutting; and Dean Campbell and Anthony Burkheimer won bucket helmets.
Aaron Backus, Tippecanoe Valley High School, tries his hand at torch cutting Saturday during the Northern Indiana Welding and Machining Contest. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionPaseka said the welding program at WACC is in its 22nd year. He and Chris Morr have taught the program for those 22 years, with Morr passing the torch on to Paseka in 2014.
“We service about 140 kids from Warsaw and Tippy Valley. We’ve got machining and the welding combined programs in the last two years, so students are learning both sides of the skill set. It’s been great. We’re an accredited testing facility for the American Welding Society, so students that go through our program in length have a chance to earn their certifications and get a really good start on their careers,” Paseka explained.
Welding and machining are labeled as Hoosier Hot Jobs (now INDemand Jobs) and the demand for workers in the fields are growing regionally.
“We really try to push and find what they’re passionate about and (help them) make a career out of this,” Paseka said.
Find out more about WACC at https://www.warsaw.k12.in.us/o/wacc
Find out more about INDemand Jobs at https://indemandjobs.dwd.in.gov/