Alliance welders earn certification

The Welding Career Tech Program at Alliance High School has achieved perfection.

Alliance City Schools announced Wednesday that 100% of its students have passed the American Welding Society certification.

That means every student in the senior class is an AWS-certified welder with at least one certification.

AWS offers a number of welding certifications for people to take throughout their careers. The students took tests for a metal arc welding certification and flux cored arc welding.

“The tests are extremely hard and complex to pass and are all hands-on,” said Eric Peters, one of the program’s welding instructors. “Many adults that are seasoned welders have trouble with passing cert tests.”

In a news release, Alliance City Schools explained the tests and their complexities:

“The certification tests required the students to weld a test plate, which had a deep V groove. The students had to fill the V groove with multiple weld passes with the expectation that the final weld pass would not be over or under the specified tolerance. The welds then had to pass a visual inspection. If the inspection was successful, an X-ray was done to see if there were any internal defects. The student would immediately fail if the X-ray showed defects. If they passed, the final phase of the test was done by a certified weld inspector. The inspector cut two one-inch strips from the test and performed a root bend and a face bend. Both strips were bent into a horseshoe to reveal any weld deformations or cracks.”

Peters echoed the difficulty.

“As you can see, these are serious tests that require quite a bit of knowledge and skill to pass,” he said. “It’s hard to achieve, and one little oversight can lead to a failed test. Our students really gave it their all with these tests.”

The certifications are important, because they will lift the students in the eyes of employers. Not all welders in the industry receive their AWS certifications.

“I cannot express enough how excited and proud of them we are,” Peters said. “The Alliance and surrounding areas will have the opportunity to hire some really good talent.”

The students began in the welding program during their junior year. The class is made up of students from Alliance, Marlington and Salem high schools, and are part of the Alliance Career Tech Planning District.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Alliance Career Tech welders earn certification