A team of students from the Delaware Area Career Center are headed to a national competition after taking first place in the SkillsUSA Ohio Welding Fabrication Competition last month.
Comprised of Big Walnut seniors in the DACC’s welding program, the team — Blaize Foster, Cole Duff and Luke Chiles — will compete in the SkillsUSA national competition next month after placing first in both the regional and state competitions. The DACC reported this is the first time a team from the school has taken first place in the welding fabrication category.
The state competition was held virtually, and students competed from the DACC welding lab via Zoom, along with 23 other teams. The national competition will also be held virtually.
“They sent us a pallet with pre-cut metal and a set of blueprints, all wrapped in plastic so we couldn’t see what was inside until the competition started,” Duff said. “We had three hours from start to finish.”
Foster said once the competition started, the students unwrapped the materials and evaluated what they had to make.
“We knew right away from the blueprints that we would be making a fire pit,” Foster said. “Planning out what we would do and getting the materials ready were the most important parts. With a project like this, it’s 90% setup and 10% welding.”
Chiles said the team’s first step set them apart from other teams.
“We started off by cleaning every piece of metal so the final product would be high…
