Visit from professional welders encourage local students interested in pursuing trades

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The Blue Collar Tour made a stop in Idaho Falls Wednesday. The stop is to encourage students to consider pursuing the trades versus pursuing 4-year universities. The goal behind the Western Welding Academy and Blue Collar Tour is to expose kids to different routes they can pursue once they graduate high school.

Once school started Wednesday morning, students participating in District 91's Welding program housed at the Career Technical Education Center were able to see a large tour bus in the parking lot for the Blue Collar Tour.

Tyler Sasse, the CEO and founder of the Western Welding Academy, says days where they can show kids the trades is what it's all about.

"It's not like we don't do this for schools. This is our way to give back to society and it's our way to get back to the industry. And you know, the skill that we have is welding. So that's what we definitely want to show the welding. But it's more join the trades, be blue collar or you know, do something with your hands. Like there's no shame in that and quite honestly, you're just going to make way more money and have way better benefits and and just have a better quality of life, really, you know."

He adds sharing this with kids and letting them see how the backbone of society is formed is important.

"If we can't figure out a way to inspire these people and and just, look, food's got to get delivered. Truck drivers and plumbers, electricians and carpenters and, you know, all that all those jobs is what really, really propel our society forward. And, infrastructure, you flip the lights, you just think that's like, well, the lights come on. But there's a whole lot of work that goes into making those lights come on, you know? And it's important," Sasse said.

A lesson that students in the room learning from Sasse and his crew this year.

"My true goal is to be an engineer. But I decided that welding like it, having a background in manufacture would be something that I would need for better understanding engineering. And I really like just making something out of nothing really," Idaho Falls High School senior Joseph Sale said.

Sale added Sasse had also taught him and his classmates a different skill he hadn't learned yet.

"We've watched a Tig demonstration and that's something that we haven't worked on yet. We're working through kind of other welding types. We have MiG and we've done Stick, but we haven't done Tig yet. So it's really interesting to see the different types."

Sentiments echoed by Sales fellow classmates.

"When my teacher, like, told them and, like, their introduction, I was, like, amazed of what they're doing. Like, as you can see through what they're doing it out, it's pretty amazing. So it's like, way better than what I could do," Skyline junior Ivan Merino said.

He added, "I started to like, actually, first hand start welding, This is really interesting and it really piqued my interest and I might like to pursue it."

Another classmate, Carson Hewitt, added for him seeing the experts in action solidified some future plans for him.

"Welding has always been pretty interesting to me. And so to know that I can easily get a job that can pay for college and kind of have a trade and then also have the ability to make money for something that I want to do later was really appealing. That way I can have more time to think about spending a larger amount of money on college while still being able to do something that I like."

He says seeing the passion from his welding teacher and Sasse and his company is what has continued to inspire to pursue the trade.

"It's really nice going into a place knowing they're there for the subject as opposed to the teacher. It's it's a nice mix up. And also I feel like I learn more because if I'm being completely honest, I wasn't even like extremely interested in welding up until I heard about the opportunities I could provide and like seeing the teacher's passion for what I grade brochures or anything else."

The Western Welding Academy will be traveling to Washington Thursday as they continue to tour the country inspiring kids to learn about the trades.