Jario Cruz of Morgan City High placed third in a welding competition Friday. He won several prizes, including a DeWalt grinder and a Jackson welding hood.
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Welding instructor John Young from Morgan City High brought two students, Jairo Cruz and Jakobi Theriot.
Morgan City High student places in welding competition
Morgan City High student Jairo Cruz was among the prize-winners in the American Welding Society's third annual student weld-off Feb. 24.
Fairbanks Inspection & Testing and CEI, in conjunction with the American Welding Society’s District 9 Baton Rouge Section, conducted the event.
Students from Plaquemine, St. James, Morgan City, Walker, Loranger, Ponchatoula and Live Oak high schools competed for numerous prizes, including two $1,000 AWS scholarships and the grand prize, a Pro-Tech 150 welding machine. Students were given a written exam and were given the option to compete on either 2G/3G plate or 6G pipe.
Cruz finished third in the plate test competition. Lacy Williams from Loranger was first, and second place went to Trevor Myers from Walker.
In the pipe test competition, Chandler Diaz from Live Oak was first, Ty Rodrigue from St. James was second and Skyler Tullier from Plaquemine was third.
AWS District 9 Director Calvin Pepper attended this event.
There was support from the industry’s local businesses including donations and volunteers: Blue Bayou, CEI Fabricators, Fairbanks Inspection & Testing, TNT Gas & Supply, Lincoln Electric, Mistras, Acuren, Nugent Steel, PALA, Oxford Alloys, Lowery, PAX, Trade Construction Co., Lotel Industries, Comeaux Caps, Creative Cajun Cooking, Murray’s Market and DeLaune’s Market.
The hosts were George Fairbanks and George Shaheen (CEI). The volunteers included Benny Warren, Desiree Courville, Garry Owens, James Fousse, Charles Perilloux, Herb Coupel, Jonathan Mareno, Dexter LeMaire, Jeremy Whittemore, Johnny Dupuy, Jorge Lopez, Michael Mahoney and Deanna Richardson-Miles.