{"id":176250,"date":"2026-02-23T08:45:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T08:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/176250\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T08:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T08:45:31","slug":"high-school-welders-showcase-skills-at-texas-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/176250\/","title":{"rendered":"High school welders showcase skills at Texas competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 High school students from West Texas and Eastern New Mexico faced off in the 5th annual Texas High School Welding Series (TXHSWS) Build-Off and Competition to showcase how skilled trades can not only secure a career but also provide a pathway for youth who are looking for an opportunity.<\/p>\n

The competition took place on Friday, Feb. 6, at the Sun City Welding Academy, located at 6940 Commerce Ave. Student welders in teams of two or three were placed in real-world environments, where they received project build plans the morning of the event and completed their projects under time pressure, similar to actual job-site conditions.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis competition shows students that welding is not just a skill, it\u2019s a career,\u201d Scott Herndon, owner of Sun City Welding Academy, said. \u201cThese students are building something real, with real standards, and real consequences, just like they will in the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it all starts from safety. You know, safety and also reading and understanding blueprints, and like you said, even maintenance on machines. You know, because they got to be able to troubleshoot. Because when these competitions, we\u2019re not here to watch over them. We\u2019re back there, so they got to work with each other.\u201d Ernest Sanchez, a teacher from Gadsden High School, said about the competition.<\/p>\n

In addition to the competition, Sun City Welding Academy held a welding introduction workshop for cadets from the El Paso County Juvenile Probation Department\u2019s Challenge Academy.<\/p>\n

The workshop was designed \u201cfor youth who may have faced early setbacks but are now working toward positive change,\u201d according to the welding academy.<\/p>\n

Cadets received hands-on instruction and even completed a welding project, showing the skilled trade can be a viable career path.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about showing young people that one mistake doesn\u2019t define their future,\u201d Herndon said. \u201cThe trades offer structure, discipline, pride in work, and a chance to build a stable life. Welding can be that bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welding remains one of the most in-demand and well-compensated trades, according to Sun City Welding Academy, as the skilled labor shortage continues nationwide.<\/p>\n

In addition to the competition, the TXHSWS also hosts certification days with participating high schools across the region. From October through February, the events brought industry standards to classrooms and allowed entire welding programs the ability to gain certification access.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Sun City Welding Academy said the events helped close the gap in education and employment, especially for students who do better in hands-on learning environments.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy combining elite student competition with outreach to justice-involved youth, this event demonstrates how workforce development can strengthen both individual futures and the broader community,\u201d the news release said.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 High school students from West Texas and Eastern New Mexico faced off in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[138,70967,66594,68015,70965,70966,70964,27,29,28,375],"class_list":["post-176250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-el-paso","tag-gadsden-high-school","tag-high-school-students","tag-scott-herndon","tag-skilled-trades","tag-student-competition","tag-sun-city-welding-academy","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-west-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}