Hot new class

Houston High principal Mike Vrvilo said the community for years has been asking for welding courses for local teens. When the school was a combined junior/senior high school teaching grades 7-12, it had a small welding program.

"It wasn't much -- one booth and a welder," Vrvilo said.

When the new high school opened in 2003, demand for a wood shop trumped the desire for a metal shop. Students and parents want to have both options, he said.

That's where Alaska Construction Education Foundation comes in. The group just gave the Mat-Su School District $100,000 to finish building a welding shop.

The shop will be located in the adjacent middle school because the high school doesn't have space for it, Vrvilo said. Middle schoolers will be able to use the shop too, at least for an introductory welding course that will prepare them for more in-depth high school classes on the subject, he said.

Mid-Valley High School students and homeschooled children also will be eligible to take classes, he said.

Vrvilo said Houston High students built 12 welding booths at the middle school in 2008 but lacked funding for ventilation and other needs. That's where the Construction Education Foundation money comes in, Mat-Su Borough School District spokeswoman Catherine Esary said.

Esary said the $100,000 will be used to install duct work, ventilation units and gas piping to the welding booths. Vrvilo said he hopes the work will be done over the summer, so classes can begin next fall.

Esary said the district will still have to come up with about $35,000 for welders and supplies. District officials are looking for grant funding for the equipment, she said.

Vrvilo said demand for the welding classes is already high. He expects the three welding classes planned will be booked quickly.

Mat-Su Homebuilders Association executive officer Jennifer Coker said Mat-Su Construction Academy welding courses for adults are also in demand. The association runs these classes.

"The welding class is the most popular class we have," Coker said.

The School District coordinates Construction Academy classes for high school students, Coker said.

The Construction Education Foundation provides project management, coordination and administrative support for the Mat-Su academy and other construction academies around the state.

The training program started out in 2006 as a pilot project by Associated General Contractors of Alaska, Anchorage Home Builders Association, Anchorage School District, Alaska Works Partnership Inc., Alaska Department of Labor and Cook Inlet Tribal Council. Those agencies teamed up to create the Anchorage Construction Academy at the School District's King Career Center in Anchorage.

According to information on the Alaska Construction Academy Web site, demand was so high that in 2008 then-Gov. Sarah Palin directed $3.5 million in state funding toward opening construction academies in Mat-Su, Kenai, Fairbanks, Juneau and Ketchikan. The program relies mostly on state funding to pay for training, Coker said.

At Mat-Su Construction Academy, students learn carpentry, plumbing, electrical or welding skills. The academy also teaches first-aid courses and training in Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements. Coker said the group is considering adding a few other courses, including a drywall and painting classes.

The courses for adults are filled by application only, Coker said. Applicants must submit a resume, letters of reference and come in for an interview. Participants who do well in the courses get letters of reference from course instructors and a certificate of completion. Employees from the state Department of Labor also stop by to speak to participants about jobs, she said.

For information about the courses, go to www.alaskaca.org and click on "Mat-Su."

Find Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.