Members of the welding class at the Springfield-Clark County Technology Center held their fourth annual Welding Rodeo recently. The students make contact with local shops and collect scrap metal for the event. Their goal is to collect whatever scrap metal they can find and use it to create sculptures for the event.
Mentors from the various businesses work with teams as they create plans for their creations that will be sold on the last Friday of April. Bryce Obaugh is the instructor for the course and had seven teams participate this year.
The 22 juniors and 12 seniors worked on projects which included a life size motorcycle, a windmill type creation and a larger than life rocking chicken. The winning team created a model farm.
Each year the young men and women in the class select a charity to receive the proceeds generated by their rodeo. This year The Humane Society Serving Clark County received a check last week for $1,385. Shelter Coordinator Krissi Hawke and Canine Office Cami visited the welding class to thank them for their generous donation. “We wanted to help animals” explained the students. Hawke reported that the funds will be used for the Spay and Neuter Clinic this year. The grant funding for this very important work has been reduced this year and Hawke has been working diligently to find additional funds for the program. Thanks to the students, the funds will be used to assure that all pets adopted from the shelter will be spayed and neutered to help decrease the homeless pet population in our community.
