Evergreen Park students leading the charge as MVCC seeks to fill industry demand for welders

Evergreen Park Community High School students "crushed it" at a recent Moraine Valley Community College welding competition, part of a program aimed at training people to work in the trades.

Wearing welding masks and protective gear, nine students from Evergreen Park Community High School used arc welders and two different size welding rods to create metal T-joints during an annual high school welding competition in February at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills.

Their fine craftsmanship placed the school first in a competition that also drew the participation of another 55 students from Argo, Joliet West and Stagg high schools.

“Argo and Stagg were good too, but Evergreen Park really crushed it,” said Dave Viar, welding instructor and mechanical technologies development chair at the college. Viar along with professionals from the welding industry judged the competition, which also included a written examination.

The perfect welds made by the Evergreen Park students contained no undercuts or gashes in the adjoining metal plates and no open pores. But that’s not surprising because this wasn’t the first time students from the program have excelled on the regional stage.

“We’ve had five winners in the last seven years,” said John O’Connor, an Evergreen Park shop teacher who earned an education degree from Trinity Christian College after working 20 years as a sheet metal worker and Local 73 member.

Under his watchful eye, students learn how to safely perform MIG, TIG, Arc and Oxy-Acetylene welding.

In the school’s metal working lab, they also receive 10 hours of OSHA safety training, learn metal forging, lathing, plasma cutting, gain a familiarity with HVAC, and learn about career opportunities in the welding field.

Welding uses intense heat to form permanent bonds between metal surfaces in cars, trucks, ships, planes and other aerospace vehicles. It’s also used to construct buildings, bridges, power plants, oil refineries, small electronics, medical equipment and nanotechnology.

It’s a profession that will require some 360,000 welding professionals by 2027, according to the American Welding Society, which has designated April National Welding Month since 1996.

Considering the growing demand for welders, MVCC has made an outsized effort to attract students to the welding field.

Prepandemic enrollment in the college’s welding program was around 120. Now it’s 160, Viar said. “We run six days a week, Monday through Friday with three classes, and Saturday with two classes.”

This was the eighth year of the college’s high school welding competition.

“It’s a chance for area high schools to weld and compete to see who’s best, and it’s also to prepare students for welding classes at Moraine Valley,” Viar said. “But a lot has to do with building relationships with high schools to get teachers, parents and students to believe there’s more out there than the traditional college education. There are great opportunities in the trades.”

For the second year in a row, Zack Gumban, an Evergreen Park senior, took first place in the welding competition overall, winning a $1,000 scholarship to MVCC. He became enamored with the high school’s metal-working lab while shadowing as an eighth grader.

“I loved all the fire,” he said. “Plus, I always had fun doing construction projects and hobbies with my dad.”

He plans to study nursing but also is keeping his options open for a dual career that will likely include welding.

Diego Abonce, also an Evergreen Park senior, finished second in the overall competition, receiving a $500 scholarship to Moraine Valley. He too discovered the high school metalworking lab while shadowing as an eighth grader. Like Gumban, he considers himself a hands-on learner.

“I like this much better than sitting in class reading,” Abonce said. “I’d much rather be in the lab building something.”

Fellow senior Aidan Brunner finished third overall, winning $300 in welding gear. Brunner plans to attend MVCC after graduation and also is aiming to join the Pipefitters Local 597.

When he first saw the metal lab at Evergreen Park Community, “I felt like a little kid, looking at all the machines, which were a bit intimidating,” he said. “But my dad’s a plumber. He doesn’t do welding, but he uses soldering in his work. I’ve been in this class all four years. I thought it was really cool seeing the demonstrations of welding.”

Gumban, Abonce, Brunner and fellow senior David Lucio have taken on special roles as teaching aids at their high school metalworking lab, where they help their teacher prepare materials and assist other students.

Lucio plans to study at Moraine Valley to become a first responder, possibly a firefighter. He said his knowledge of welding will help him better understand structural issues related to building emergencies.

Moraine Valley Community College maintains a welding lab outfitted with 20 welding booths and offers a welding curriculum as a 2.5-year full-time student program. Part-time students can finish in four years, taking one class per semester, Viar said.

“Any student coming out of our program will be far and above entry skills required at any entry level welding job,” Viar said.

The program also has strong ties with the Pipefitters Local 597 and the American Welding Society, Viar said.

“We partner with companies that do aerospace welding, medical welding, aluminum welding. Here in Cook County, the union pays well, and union work is great,” he said.

Though local non-union shops do not pay as much, they still pay well, Viar said.

Besides teaching at MVCC, Viar works for a woman-owned weld-inspection company, McNDT Pipeline Ltd. He also maintains close connections with local companies employing welders and sees lots of opportunities for welders, machinists, boilermakers and pipefitters.

“Welding is a lucrative vocation if students are willing to give the time and effort to obtain the training and knowledge,” Viar said. “I have always loved welding. It’s provided me and my family with a good life. You’re not going to be rich, as in a highfalutin member of the economy. However, you will make six figures. I met a 22-year-old in Georgia making $225,000 as a pipeline welder.”

Other top Evergreen Park Community High School welders who participated in MVCC’s 2024 high school welding competition were Matt Feeley, Robert Cipolla, Ben Sanchez, Rachel Thomas and Alex Carmody.

Susan DeGrane is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.