Sarah Pledge Dickson, LJI Journalist
Students in Pontiac High School’s (PHS) welding program won the second place prize in the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) Foundation’s “Forged By Youth” competition for the tractor they welded over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year. The win includes a $10,000 prize that will be used to improve the program.
“The students were really proud,” said Megan Tubman, who’s been teaching welding at PHS since 2018. “Some were surprised. I think it lit a fire under them in the sense that I think we’re going to go bigger and better this year and see if we can get first place.”
Tubman graduated from the high school’s program in 2005 and continued her studies as a civil engineer before coming back to teach at the program.
“In recent years, we’ve opened it up to all grade levels so we have secondary one to secondary five involved in the program now,” Tubman said. “We train the students to test for Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) certifications in thick and flux core welding.”
The “Forged by Youth” awards were launched in 2021 to recognize and celebrate significant achievements in secondary school welding projects across the country. Tubman submitted the tractor entry to the CWB on her students’ behalf in June when they completed the project.
She received the good news at the beginning of September that the program had been awarded the second place prize.
Tubman said that students often try to build projects that are relevant to their community, and that being in an agricultural region, this means many of the program’s projects are created to be useful in farming.
“This year, for an all-student-level participation, we decided to make a little replica of a tractor,” Tubman said. “We started off by drawing a template then cutting pieces to make the frame of the tractor.”
Students all worked on brainstorming together.
“Whoever wanted to be involved was allowed to participate in each class,” Tubman said. “We brainstormed and students came up with ideas.”
Some of the ideas included ways to make the tractor as realistic as possible.
“We got old rims from trucks and repurposed as much steel as possible to add the details for pistons and mufflers,” Tubman said. “We used a lawn tractor to put in the engine so that it would be more authentic.”
Tubman said that the prize money will be used to reinvest in the program.
“The funds go back into the program to support consumables and if I need to upgrade any equipment,” Tubman said. “Especially if I have a grant like this, I try to keep that in reserve to try and upgrade or purchase new equipment.”
The program also took home the first-place prize in 2021, bringing the total prize money received through “Forged by Youth” awards to $25,000.
“A couple years ago, we won first place for a project and used the money to purchase a new plasma cutting table for the students,” Tubman said, adding that she’s very grateful for the CWB and all it does to support high school welding programs.
“The CWB is a great supporter of our program,” said Tubman. “They contribute to new equipment and support us with study material and programming. They help keep the program running strong.”