On Tuesday, students and families gathered at the Colorado Welding Institute in Hayden to celebrate students who completed the welding course, which earned them both high school credit and industry certifications.

This is the first time the welding course has been offered on a larger scale to students and made possible entirely by community donors, reflecting the commitment to expanding opportunities for career technical education. 

The class was a collaboration between Yampa Valley High School, SSHS and the CWI in Hayden. Contributions from the Yampa Valley Partnership for Students, Stewardship and Sustainability and the donors through the Yampa Valley Community Foundation made the program possible. The donations covered the program fee of $2,500 per student. Part of the funding also included transportation to get students safely to and from Hayden, even during inclement weather. SSHS and YVHS hope to be able to offer this program to students in the future. 

The course is a 40-hour program with four hours per week for 10 weeks. The program started at the beginning of the spring semester. There are 12 total students in the program from YVHS and SSHS. The cohort from YVHS is a 50/50 split of boys and girls, four of whom are bilingual.