- West Contra Costa Unified School District
- Welding Course Summaries
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Welding 1
Welding 1 is the first class in the Kennedy Welding Pathway. In it, students are introduced to the many facets of the professional metalworking field including safe working practices, the operation of tools and equipment, and techniques for basic fabrication. The class is balanced with an academic investigation of STEAM related support content such as the fundamentals of engineering, design, and strategies for project management.
Students are safely exposed to the industrial environment of the welding shop with a series of small technical projects pertaining to basic shop equipment, Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), and Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) processes. These projects grow in technical complexity as they progress. Upon completion students have a small portfolio that displays a collection of relevant and marketable skills.
Welding 2
Welding 2 is the second class in the Kennedy Welding Pathway. It offers students opportunities to continue building marketable skills in their metalworking education. The class continues with an introduction to Oxy - Fuel Welding / Cutting (OFW/C) and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW). The fundamentals of engineering and design are continued in the class as well as the addition of the history of metalworking and concepts of metallurgy and material science.
Advanced fabrication techniques are learned through a series of escalating technical projects that utilize more complex machinery and strategies. Welding 2 also includes a research project on a particular metalworking technique and the pursuit of an OSHA safety certification that will help graduates gain employment.
Welding 3
Welding 3 is the capstone class of the Kennedy Welding Program and is based on producing welding operators with diverse and competitive collections of skills for today's rapidly advancing manufacturing world.
Students begin the first semester designing parts in a series of projects formulated to help them learn the basics of 3D design software. Parts are then cut using contemporary CNC technology and prepped for fabrication which the students perform using skills learned in Welding 1 and 2. The second semester is based on personal, collaborative, and community projects. Students earn the greatest degree of agency as they propose and manage all stages of a project from design to installation.