Eleven students from the southwest region of Ohio descended on the Hobart Institute on Saturday, March 1 to test their skills and compete against their counterparts. Placing their talent on the line were Tim Engel of Diamond Oaks Career Center, Jesse Butler from Laurel Oaks Career Center, Jeremy Bartley from Miami Valley Career Technology Center, Mark Smith from Butler Tech, David Crowe from Springfield Clark Career Technology Center, Jeremiah Bill from Tolles Technical Center, Christopher Walker from Greene County Career Center, David Collins from Warren County Career Center, Sam Rummel from Tri-Star Career Compact, Cody Miller from Upper Valley Joint Vocational School, and William Schalk from Scarlet Oaks Career Center.

While the students were occupied with testing activities of the day, their instructors and parents were invited by John Timmers, Director of Training Materials Development, to view the latest training materials that are under development at the Institute. Admissions Representative Janet Piechocki was on hand to provide tours of the Institute.

“You certainly have a world-class facility here,” said one on the men on the tour, who was obviously impressed by what he saw.

Instructors from the various schools talked about the need for welders and the successes within their programs. One commented that his board is sinking addition money into his program as they see the increased enrollment, the demand for welders in the community, and the effort of the State of Ohio and the American Welding Society is placing on welding education.

Matt Lindley and Rick Pridemore of Butler Tech, in cooperation with HIWT Technical Instructor Chuck Ford, organized the day-long event. They were assisted in judging by HIWT students Jim Cramer, Chad Dupree, and Ryan Greene, along with HIWT instructors Jim Starry, Russ Shurtz, Richard Smith, and Kris Rahall, while Marty Baker supervised the written test for the contestants.

At the end of the day, four students were judged to be the top contestants. (1) Mark Smith of D. Russel Lee/Butler Tech Center (2) Jeremiah Bill of Tolles Tech Center (3) David Crowe of Springfield Clark Career Tech Center (4) Sam Rummer of Tri Star Career Compact. The fourth place winner does not compete on the state level unless an alternate is needed to fill a position.