Starting next fall, Navarre High School students enrolled in the welding program will not have to leave campus for classes.
Charlin Knight, Santa Rosa School District Workforce Education director, said the district will expand its Welding Technology Program to on-site training at Navarre High.
"It’s a high-demand elective for our high school students. There is always a waiting list, and with the on-site program, we can double and triple the class size," Knight said of the program now offered at Locklin Technical College in Milton.
The expansion of Navarre’s welding program is a result of the school district being named a Space Florida Academy. On Aug. 1, Santa Rosa County District Schools was one of 23 Florida school districts to enter a partnership with Space Florida – the state’s aerospace finance and development authority – to begin implementation of the Space Florida Academy Program.
The Space Florida Academy Program aims to connect students with high-demand credentials and skills necessary to work in the aerospace industry – credentials that may not have been traditionally associated with the aerospace industry.
"This will allow us to expand opportunities for our high school students to go into highly-skilled and well-paying jobs with companies like GE as well as expose them to careers on Florida's Space Coast," Knight explained, adding high schoolers can earn multiple, stackable welding certifications in the free two-year program that is offered at Locklin Tech. Currently, 11th and 12th graders travel to Locklin Tech’s Berryhill Road campus from their schools.
"It is postsecondary and industry training at no cost for high school students. For adults, it is a tuition program at Locklin Tech and part of the 'Career in a Year' workforce education initiative," Knight added.
High school students (dual-enrolled) currently enrolled in the Welding Technology Program say they love the education through experience learning and the possibility of working on Florida’s Space Coast is “cool.”
Navarre High senior Masen Modlin has earned one welding certification (and is working on two others) since entering the program last year.
"I'm in the welding program because I want to make a career out of it, earn lots of money and be successful. This is what I like to do," said Modlin, who has his SMAW (shielded metal arc welding) certification. "My dad (Neil Modlin) is also a welder. He's a collision tech at Preston Hood Chevrolet."
Thinking of a career change? Five trades you can start learning today, then start earning in one to two years
Modlin said Locklin Tech instructors are knowledgeable, and he learned a lot his first year.
"I've never walked in and felt lost or felt like I was not being taught something. This year, I will hopefully get my GMAW (gas metal arc welding) and GTAW (gas tungsten arc welding) certs," said the 17-year-old. “I would love the opportunity to work in the aerospace industry. Just the idea that your welding skills will see space is pretty awesome.”
Arianna Negrotto, another Navarre High senior in her second year, became interested in welding because of a family friend.
"I spent a lot of time watching him weld in his shop and that kind of influenced me. I wanted to try it and I really enjoy it," Negrotto said, adding she likes welding as a career because of the pay and it will allow her to be creative.
"I also like it because I’m using my hands. I feel like, you learn more when you're actually doing what you're trying to learn, instead of looking at a board or paper."
It also appeals to Delaney Hill, a Pace High senior.
"I enjoy hands-on work. I think welding is great thing to get into and a skill that I can use throughout my life," said Hill, who is starting her second year in the program. “I never knew there were opportunities like this in the aerospace field, but I think it would be really interesting career and a really cool work environment.”
Since beginning the program in 2023, Hill said she has earned her Stick Welding certification and helped her welding team win a SkillsUSA Florida state title and place 15th out of 41 teams at the national SkillsUSA conference.
"I highly recommend the welding program to other high school students. There are a lot of people who don't like to sit in classrooms, I am one of them. I prefer hands-on learning," Hill shared.
Locklin Technical College Director Keith Hines, who will oversee the program’s expansion into Navarre High, said currently there are 50 students – 16 high schoolers and 34 adults – enrolled in the Welding Technology and Advanced Welding Technology programs.
"The job market is really the draw. Students leave here and can go to a plethora of jobs. If they get bored at doing this, they can just walk off that job into a different type of job, using the same skills but doing something completely different for a different company," Hines said, adding the Navarre High campus will have 10 welding booths while the Locklin Tech campus has 50 welding booths.
“That's a huge attraction, especially for high school students. They don't have to stay here. They can travel and do it or they can come back here and work for one of the local manufacturers."
He said the pay is also attractive – even for those just entering the field.
“A student-welder walking in with the minimum of experience can earn about $17 an hour in this area. At the top end of that, the sky is the limit, just depending on your skillset and industry certifications. We have students leave here every year, with the certifications they earn here, making $35 to $40 an hour," Hines added.
Welding program gives second chances: Escambia County welding program helps inmates build better future
Knight said the Welding Technology Program expansion into a high school reaches an untapped talent pool and informs students of Space Coast careers.
“The Space Florida Academy-Santa Rosa School District relationship also breaks down the perceptions that Northwest Florida is not preparing students for Space Coast careers,” she said.
Hines agreed.
"Those (Space Coast) jobs have always existed, and I loved that Space Florida is highlighting these job opportunities. When you think about space, you think about sending a rocket up. You don't ever think about the infrastructure that has to be built, to build the rocket," Hines said, adding that infrastructure includes welding, plumbing and electricity.
At Navarre High, the Welding Technology Program will be paired with the existing Building Construction Technology Program.
"The Building Construction Technology Program has an amazing success rate where high school students can earn two or three stackable credentials that are valued by our local construction partners," Knight said. "It's housed in a high-tech facility that is less than 10 years old."
She said the Building Construction Technology Program started in 2006 in a portable classroom where students performed much of their work outside.
The school district also has applied for a $107,600 Florida Department of Education Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive Grant to help expand the program to Navarre High.
In July, Shannon Ogletree, Santa Rosa County economic development director, wrote a letter to the state Department of Education endorsing the grant application for the welding program’s expansion.
In the correspondence, Ogletree said Locklin Tech’s plan to expand the welding programs to dual enrollment students in the south side of the county represented an opportunity to address a growing need for skilled welders in the region.
“The proposed expansion will enable Locklin Technical College to extend its high-quality welding programs to a larger number of students, equipping them with the skills necessary to succeed in a high-demand, high wage-occupation,” Ogletree said in the letter.
Dylan Webb, a 21-year-old enrolled in the Advanced Welding Program, praised Locklin Tech.
“When I started the program, I didn’t have any welding experience and so far, I have earned five certifications. By the time I finish the program in January, I will have eight certifications,” said Webb, a 2022 Milton High graduate.
Also receiving Space Florida Academy designations were the Baker, Brevard, Charlotte, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Hamilton, Hernando, Lake, Levy, Martin, Marion, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Osceola, Orange, Palm Beach, PK Yonge, Putnam, St. Lucie and Suwannee school districts.
A collaboration with the state Department of Education, the Florida Department of Commerce, the REACH Office (Reimagining Education and Career Help), and CareerSource Florida, the Space Florida Academy Program will target meeting current and future demand in Aviation/Aerospace, Advanced Manufacturing, Construction, Cybersecurity/IT, Logistics and Semiconductors industries.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa School District to expand Locklin Tech welding program into Navarre High School
Local News
