A group of G.W. Graham students are trying to win a $15,000 grant for their school. The senior metal shop class is working on an ambitious project that they hope will earn top spot in the CWB Welding Foundation’s Forged by Youth competition.
At the home of the Grizzlies, a life-sized Grizzly bear barbecue is being built.
“Last year’s first place (winner) was a go-kart, and we said that’s lame,” said team leader Tyler Bergin. “We are going to build something bigger and better that our whole school can enjoy, and hopefully it will still be around well after we graduate.”
The students took plans for a smaller version of the bear that they found online and they scaled it up. They are definitely thinking big, intending to add a speaker system and LED lighting and wrap the bear in copper welding rods.
“The reason we wanted to do this project is to showcase our capabilities and build something that would represent what it means to be a Grizzly,” said assistant project leader Isaac Rychtowski. “Hopefully we win $15,000 for Mr. Bootsma’s metal shop so that he can continue to inspire more students and give them more learning opportunities.”
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Mr. Bootsma is Brad Bootsma, the metal shop teacher at G.W. Graham. It was his idea to approach the project like a job site, with Bergin and Rychtowski leading the way. Hayden Pugsley earned the role of head welder by winning an in-class welding competition.
“The class voted for Hannah Joy as head designer because of her art skills, but also because she has the attention to detail and she works closely with our head engineer, Nathan MacNeil,” Bootsma said. “Nathan has been taking everyone’s ideas and working on the plans in AutoCAD and SOLIDWORKS. He has taken the 2D drawings and made them into a 3D version and he’s also designing a pallet for the bear to sit on.”
Marcus Dalton and Reuben Van Pelt are the head grinders, and the rest of the class is working underneath the various project leaders.
UFV Welding Instructors Spencer Julseth-White and Matt Olafson donated most of the steel for the project and UFV program technician Maciej Kaczor helped the students through a rough patch when their CNC Plasma cutting machine broke down. Chilliwack-based WeldCor Supplies donated welding rods, and Bootsma said they are still looking for donations to help them get across the finish line.
“We are looking for 1/8-inch filler copper welding rods, but we will take anything someone is willing to get rid of since it helps the program out and allows us to take our students’ skills above and beyond each year,” he said.
The students are confident they will win the national competition, but even a second place finish will net their program $10,000 and finishing third is worth $5,000. There are also up to 10 honourable mention prizes worth $1,000 each.
For more info CWB Welding Foundation’s Forged by Youth competition, visit cwbweldingfoundation.org/programs/forged-by-youth-award.
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eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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