“WCHS to get new welding program, shop”

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – Lethbridge Herald on January 16, 2025.
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
apulido@lethbridgeherald.com

“Students at Winston Churchill High School will have a brand new facility to “spark” their interest, thanks to a new partnership.

Southland Trailers, in partnership with several local organizations, is helping WCHS build its own welding shop, to provide students with the opportunity to try out the ever-growing trade.

The welding shop will be located in the west end of the school, by renovating a garage structure that is no longer being used, with groundbreaking taking place on Jan. 30.

Principal Tracy Wong says the school has never had a welding shop, but it has been a dream for many years now, to be able to offer a welding program on site as there has been a lot of interest from the students.

“There are a couple of programs in the city that we have been able to access, where kids get to try welding,” says Wong. “And every time they have tried it, they have loved it and come back to the school disappointed by not being able to continue due to not having a shop at the school.”

She adds that one of the barriers the school faced in the past, other than not having a shop, was not having a certified teacher for the program. But that changed a couple of years ago when they hired Colton Garner, who was originally hired to teach science and math.

“We approached Colton last year with the idea to explore the reality of building a welding shop here at the school and what that would entail, so he started to reach out to people to see if we could make that happen,” says Wong.

They learned that it would cost approximately $400,000 and when this information was presented to the Lethbridge School Division, even though they were very supportive of the project, WCHS was told they would need to come up with the funding.”

To read the full story, please visit:
https://lethbridgeherald.com/news/lethbridge-news/2025/01/16/wchs-to-get-new-welding-program-shop/