Friends and family members of senior Travis Masick woke up Christmas morning to a special present.
During the first weeks of December, Masick enrolled in the Capital Region BOCES Welding and Metal Fabrication program, forged metal Christmas trees in the welding labs on the Career and Technical Education Center Albany Campus.
“It was a fun project that tested my skills,” said Masick. “It meant a lot to give my family homemade gifts,” he added.
Masick, who aspires to a career as a structural welder, said the project took “awhile” to design and program the pattern into a computer-driven Torchmate CNC Plasma Cutting Table. But once that work was done, the trees only took “a minute or so” to be cut.
The Capital Region BOCES Welding & Metal Fabrication program, available to Mohonasen students, prepares approximately 100 high school students with the skills they need to either directly enter the workforce or expand their skills in a college or trade school. During the two-year program that is taught in two state-of-the-art labs, students learn American Welding Society standards and earn certifications that prepare them for a career in the welding industry.
“It’s a good program. I enjoy the fabrication angle of welding and learning real-life skills,” said Masick.
For more information on the Welding and Metal Fabrication program, go to https://www.capitalregionboces.org/career-technical-education/courses-programs/welding-metal-fabrication/.
