Welding competition STC dual enrolled students win

Four students from Jenkins County High School (JCHS) recently won the welding competition and placed fifth overall in the Area 4 FFA Agricultural Mechanics Competition.

Jesse Williams, Zachry Rhodes, Adam Lanier and Kevin Davis competed in the event Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Johnson County High School in Wrightsville. Zachry and Kevin are former graduates of the Industrial MIG Welding Program offered through Swainsboro Technical College (STC), and Jesse and Adam are currently enrolled in the program.

Jesse, who is also taking Gas Metal Arc Welding with welding instructor Michael Crumpler, scored a perfect 100 in the welding competition.

"This is the first time we have

According to Jesse, students ever won the welding competition, and we have been competing for 12 years," said Virgil Rainey, agricultural mechanics teacher at JCHS. "We have never had a student score a perfect 100 on the welding portion and are very appreciative to Mr. Crumpler in his effort to teach Gas Metal Arc Welding on our campus through dual enrollment." were required to make a fillet weld on both sides of a T-Joint, and the judges tried to break it. "Some students had their welds break, but none of ours did," Jesse said.

"I was so proud of them. Out of 42 teams representing 42 counties, they placed first in the welding competition," commented their instructor Mr. Crumpler.