Students in the Whiteside Area Career Center’s welding, manufacturing and machining program are forging the skills, precision and confidence needed to blueprint their futures in the modern manufacturing industry.

The program gives students hands-on experience in welding, machining, and computer-aided design. It can be taken as a one- or two-year course, where junior and senior students build foundational skills in the shop and have opportunities to take on advanced training and internships. Eligible students also can earn up to 10 college credits at Sauk Valley Community College through the program.

Instructor Jeremy Walls said that SVCC allows junior high school students to enroll in its welding classes through the dual-credit program.

“A lot of my students will actually take the fundamental class that we teach here, and advance it by going to Sauk and getting their advanced welding certificate,” Walls said. “I’ve had two former students get their advanced CNC and manual machining certificate and their advanced welding certificate by the time they graduated.”

First-year students learn welding theory and four basic welding processes: stick, oxyacetylene, MIG and TIG welding. They also learn computer-aided drafting, blueprint reading, welding symbols, and how to operate a lathe, a mill band saw and an ironworker.

These students also begin each class with a short math review, something Walls considers essential for any trade. They revisit foundational skills, such as reading tape measures, calipers, and micrometers, along with basic arithmetic.

Walls then delivers a lecture on the specific welding technique they will be learning, followed by a live demonstration. He then gives students several days of hands-on practice to repeat the weld and build consistency through repetition.

“I tell them, ‘An employer is not going to want that your first three welds are good, but the next three are bad,’” Walls said. “They’re going to want perfection every single time, and how you’re going to do that is by practicing this over and over.”

Now in her first year with the program, Dixon High School junior Alyssa Bradley said she was drawn to welding after growing up around the trade and learning from her older brother, who welded for years.

“It can be hard at times but you get the hang of it and start getting better every day,” Bradley said.

In their second year, students can tailor their training toward one of two career paths: welding or machining. Those focused on welding spend much of their time during the second semester off-campus, interning at local companies four days a week while also learning advanced techniques, such as out-of-position welding.

Students interested in machining remain in the shop, where they receive hands-on instruction with CNC mills and lathes. These students also transition from AutoCAD to 3D modeling software, building on their design skills for more complex applications. They also learn other practical skills, including budgeting and time management.

“Say a company wants you to build a particular part. How much is all this material gonna cost, and what’s gonna be your time frame,” Walls said. “Your hours of cutting, making it all correct, laying it out, welding it and being on time... that’s part of your budget. I have them come out and figure it’s going to take us this amount of hours to do this... to do that, and then I hold them to it.”

Now in his second year with the program, Dixon High School senior Brayden Anderson plans to become a millwright after high school.

“TIG welding has been my favorite thing to learn. It’s actually a lot of fun,” Anderson said. “I like wrenching and welding. I like feeding the filler wire. Once you get that part down, it’s easy from there.”

Walls said that the program and internships are designed not just to teach trades, but to launch careers.

“Almost 100% of my students are offered a full-time job once they graduate,” Walls said. “Some take it, some decide to go progress their career somewhere else. But ultimately, the skills they learn here they can apply in the real world and see the benefits.”

Walls added that high turnover in the manufacturing industry has pushed many companies to rely on staffing agencies just to keep up with demand. But through the internships, some of those same employers are now beginning to hire directly from the classroom, bypassing third-party agencies in favor of students who already have hands-on experience and training.

“I’ve sent a lot of students to TCI Manufacturing in Walnut for internships, and I have a lot of former students actually working there,” Walls said. “I’ve also sent students for internships and who are now working at Inertia Manufacturing in Freeport, Bonnell Industries and Bellini’s [Custom Welding & Auto Repair] in Dixon. I have a lot of other companies that want these students now but their insurance won’t allow it because of their age.”

The program also benefits from partnerships with local companies that donate steel, equipment, and supplies, significantly reducing operating costs. Walls said he rarely has to purchase steel thanks to these contributions, and companies often provide additional tools or materials in exchange for student-produced parts or machining work.

“A friend of mine reached out to me, saying, ‘We build flight simulators, and I have to mill all these slots in these parts,’” Walls said. “I told him, ‘Send me the blueprint and have your company ship your stuff here. My students cut it all up, wrote a program out. We made all the parts and gave it back to them.”

For Walls, teaching is about more than welding or machining – it’s about passing something on.

“It’s sort of like a Karate Kid story,” Walls said. “Mr. Miyagi didn’t have any kids, but he passed his knowledge on to Daniel. I had an old neighbor like that growing up. He worked at a steel mill, restored cars, and taught me everything he knew. Now, I get to pass on what he taught me to 160 kids every year.”

The WACC is a cooperative endeavor of 16 member school districts and three parochial schools, educating students who come from five counties: Bureau, Carroll, Lee, Ogle and Whiteside, according to WACC’s website. Most of the population is from Sterling, Rock Falls and Dixon, with the remainder residing in surrounding rural areas and small towns.

For more information, visit wacc.com. To donate materials or supplies to the program, message Walls at jwalls@wacc.cc.