Eleven HHS welding students pass national certifications usually completed at college level

Main photo: (from left) Tyler Jones, Blake Schmitz, Bentley Lupton, James Boothby, Colby Thur, John Curtis, Cameron Yeo, Mitchell Paquin, and Logan Voyer. Missing from photo: Quinton Strood and Aidan Todd

Any student who says, ‘I’ll never use this after high school,’ has clearly never been in Jim Milne’s manufacturing class at Huntsville High School (HHS).

Ten of his students—eight in grade 12 and two in grade 11—recently passed Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) Level 1 Flat SMAW (shielded metal arc welding) certification exams. And one more, grade 12 student Blake Schmitz who passed that exam last year, has also passed Horizontal, Vertical and Overhead welding exams via a co-op at local business Muskoka Millwrighting and Machining. Just like Schmitz, the grade 11 students who passed this year will be able to challenge different positions in their grade 12 year.

The students who passed the Level 1 CWB Flat exams this year are Grade 11 students James Boothby and Colby Thur, and grade 12 students John Curtis, Tyler Jones, Bentley Lupton, Mitchell Paquin, Quinton Strood, Aidan Todd, Logan Voyer, and Cameron Yeo. Another five grade 12 students are making another attempt at the exam today, along with eleven grade 11 students who Milne feels is ready for it.

“I am feeling very proud,” says Milne, adding that this is the fourth year the exams have been offered at HHS, one of few high schools that does, and that the 10 who passed this year alone is almost as many as the 11 who passed in the previous three years combined. “To get 10 out of 15 in the first attempt (this year), I’m exceptionally proud.”

To put that in perspective, 67 per cent of the students who attempted the exam this year passed on their first attempt. The provincial pass rate for first attempts is just 10 per cent.

These exams are not usually attempted until after one year of post-secondary education or an apprenticeship. “So these students are leaving high school as certified Canadian Welding Bureau flat stick welders,” says Milne.

He adds that partnerships like the one with Muskoka Millwrighting and Machining that gives students co-op experience is crucial.

“They have been an amazing community partner for this program and this school in general, with the robotics as well. I can’t speak highly enough of them,” says Milne. “Every year they take co-op students and there are four ex-students over there who are becoming millwrights and welders.”

The manufacturing program at HHS is just one of four Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM) programs at the school, along with arts and culture, construction, and hospitality and tourism, and students in those programs are excelling as well. “Kids can get prepared for life after high school,” says Milne.

SHSM students also receive training in first aid, CPR and WHMIS along with areas specific to their program like confined spaces.

Grade 12 student Blake Schmitz says he loves the program and feels it is preparing him well for the future. He has spent years doing metal work in his garage with his dad and decided to pursue it as a career.

“It’s what I love to do,” he says, adding that he’s had a great co-op experience at Muskoka Millwrighting and Machining. “They are all super friendly to help out and give me tips with anything I need.” He hopes to land an apprenticeship somewhere after he graduates this year.

The opportunity is amazing,” Schmitz says. “The fact that we are able to do (the testing) is incredible. You get to graduate with stuff that no other school offers. You are so many steps ahead. It’s a great learning experience and gives you experience for life.”

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