Wanda White, a 30-year welder, steps out of retirement to teach girls the basics of welding. She opens class with a focus on safety, then demonstrates T joints, tacking, and steadier technique. Now in her fourth year teaching We Can Weld, she draws on shop-floor experience in a male-dominated field to build confidence and practical skills.
Copy and Paste the Following Code to Embed this Video:
Mentoring the next generation of welders
Wanda White:Goodbye.
Wanda White:Leave everything outside that door…
Unidentified Staff:Thank you.
Unidentified Staff:Have a good night.
Wanda White:You, too.
Wanda White:…before you come in here, because you’re gonna easily be distracted, and we wanna keep you focused. So, leave everything outside that door. My name is Wanda White. I am a retiree that came out of retirement so that I can teach welding for students, young high schoolers, who is willing to learn the basic welding techniques. So, today, we’re gonna do T joints.
Wanda White:This type of field is very much in demand, so why not lift some of these girls and see if they are that interested and earn a decent paycheck?
Wanda White:I’ve been welding here at the company for about 30 years. Gonna put that on the tube. Right there, that’s good. When I first started, it was mostly male-dominated, so I had to prove myself, and because I was doing so well, they told me, “Oh, you’ve welded before. There’s no way you coulda done this and you’ve never welded.” And they just kept telling me, “There’s no way, there’s no way.” And within a week, you know, I was out welding on the shop floor and getting better every day. And then, next thing you know, I was teaching. Go ahead whenever you’re ready.
[tool grinding]
Wanda White:I liked what I was doing over the years, and I liked working for the company. And I thought, “What can I do to give back to the company that gave me the opportunity to prove myself as a worthy employee?” We focus on safety, I tell ’em, first, safety comes first, no matter where you are. This, don’t forget, use this. That’s safety. Well, you know what? Why not teach some of these girls these skills, these welding skills? I want you to tack right on the edge.
Wanda White:I’ve been teaching We Can Weld. This is my fourth year. All right, go ahead. I get some great kids come through here. I want it to be a six-week course. That’s not bad, not bad at all. So let me get… Because I think that’s enough to get the basics done. I’ll get your hook back on, and you should be fine.
Unidentified Student 1:All right, thank you.
Wanda White:All right?
Wanda White:And I don’t mind teaching anybody if you’re willing to learn.
Unidentified Student 1:Wanda? Love her.
Unidentified Student 2:I think she’s great.
Unidentified Student 2:She’s, um… She’s probably one of the best welding teachers I’ve had.
Unidentified Student 3:I constantly ask her questions on how I can be steadier, and, you know, just improve.
Wanda White:I’m always here for you guys.
Unidentified Student 4:Oh, yeah, we can tell that she really wants to be here. And just, like, you can feel it when she talks to you and when she helps you, so it’s really nice.
Wanda White:Yeah, it just makes you feel good. It makes me feel good. It’s a great accomplishment to me when they’re learning a skilled trade that can only improve their life. And I’m proud of all of it. Every bit of it. I have no regrets.
Passport
Follow Us