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Caleb Kulovitz enjoys the creativity involved with welding but he also knows his newfound skill may land him a good job when he graduates from high school.

Caleb, a junior at Evergreen Park Community High School, finished with the top score at the annual Moraine Valley Community College High School Welding Competition recently held at his high school. The score also earned him a $1,000 scholarship from the American Welding Society.

He and the eight other students from his school and nine from Argo Community High School in Summit were competing for the prize, but they also had some fun in the process.

Argo’s Mateusz Pawlukowski won first place in the written exam, Jaboc Niemec won first place in ARC welding — joining metal to metal, and Miguel Castillo won first place in MIG Welding — joining materials together using a wire electrode.

The competition has been going on for about six years but is usually held at the college. This year, EPCHS had home-field advantage.

“There’s a lot of things to like about welding,” said Caleb. “Just to watch and see what you create.”

Caleb’s dad is a welder, and when he was a youngster he enjoyed watching him work, “playing around with it” and learning about welding.

Then he took John O’Connor’s Metals and Fabrication class and often dropped by in his free time to practice in a classroom booth. He hasn’t decided on a career but said welding is on his list.

“There’s a lot of opportunities you can get with OC (a nickname for O’Connor), especially if you listen to him,” said Caleb. “He’s really good at helping you further your path in life.”

For the competition, students had to make two tee joints, the first an ARC weld single pass and the second a tee joint with a single pass on one side and a triple pass on the opposite.

In O’Connor’s class, students get to also make metal tables and do welding art. They also use a plasma cutter for specialty projects, such as fire pits.

“I have had the privilege of watching him (Caleb) put in countless hours of hard work improving his welding skills in my classes,” said O’Connor. “I am most proud of all the hard work the students put into preparing for the contest. They are always willing to help each other out.”

Jason Smith, who teaches welding at Argo and also supervised his students at the competition, said they did lots of practicing beforehand.

“They did a really nice job,” said Smith. “They competed and I think they all enjoyed it. It was really nice to see a good group of students go to interact with other students at a different school and it was an all-around good experience.”

David Vair, the competition judge from Moraine Valley, had some fun, too.

“Caleb’s piece was outstanding in workmanship and skill,” said Vair, Mechanical Technologies Department chair and Welding Program coordinator. “I love running and judging these competitions because we learn a ton about the new generation of soon-to-be welders.”

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.