Nov. 5, 2018 - High school students in A. Philip Randolph's welding program are gaining the skills they need to go from the classroom to a career by way of torching, grinding and making sparks fly.
The program is now entering its second year at the school and is led by teachers with years of experience in the field. Michael Burt is just one instructor helping students get hands-on experience.
"Everything that’s out there in the world is somehow welded," said Burt. "Your high rise buildings, there’s welders on that. Your cars have welding on that. The desks that kids sit in are welded. If it is metal, it is a 95 percent chance it was welded together."
Add high-tech equipment and college-level curriculum and thousands of pounds of donated metal to the mix, and students get the opportunity to make high performance wages out of high school without the college loans.
Students like Destiny Crumby, an 11th-grade student in the program, is thankful for the opportunity for a high-education at low cost.
"It makes me feel very lucky, because there are people who have to pay," said Crumby. "They spend a lot of money on the same thing that we’re learning here."
Watch the video below to see students at A. Philips Randolph put the pedal to the metal in the school's welding program.
"Beyond the Books" is an on-going feature series that highlights the people and programs that make up Team Duval.