Garrett High School in northeast Indiana has earned a State Earn and Learn (SEAL) certification for its Welding program from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD).

The SEAL is the second for the high school; its Construction Trades program received the certification last August.

DWD is helping to skill-up the state’s workforce by offering SEAL certificates to employers and high schools through its Office of Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship (OWBLA).

“The SEAL certifications give the programs a certain level of credibility, coming from the state of Indiana,” said Chad Sutton, Garrett High School’s Director of Career Development. “The supporting coursework that goes along with the hands-on training and the certificate is a great way to let employers and our community partners know that we’ve got something useful to recruit new employees to their businesses.”

SEALs are structured, scalable programs ranging from just eight weeks to two years in length and include industry certifications tailored for any sector. They are designed to meet the skills that employers demand, are geared toward both adult and youth populations, and satisfy Indiana’s new graduation pathway requirements.

The SEAL certifications give students at Garrett High School the opportunity to earn industry-valued credentials while participating in paid on-the-job training.

Students can begin exploring a welding career in sixth grade through a Virtual Welding program and eventually can earn 21 credit hours transferrable to Ivy Tech Community College’s Welding program.

They also can earn industry certifications in STICK, TIG, and MIG Welding, in addition to 1,000 hours of on-the-job training and related technical instruction.

About 40 students at Garrett High School will be participating in the Welding SEAL program in the upcoming school year.

Nucor Building Systems (NBS), a designer and manufacturer of custom-engineered metal building systems, and the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 166 Apprenticeship Program are a few of the program’s partners.

NBS donated materials for students to construct their workstations and looks forward to further building its relationship with Garrett’s Welding program, said Philip Reinoehl, Web Technician at NBS Indiana. Nucor is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has a plant in Waterloo, Indiana, north of Fort Wayne.

For the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 166 Apprenticeship Program, its decision to partner with Garrett High School has been one of the best decisions it has made over the past few years, said Christopher Brown, Director of Training for the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 166.

The SEAL certification is among a variety of tools that the OWBLA has in its toolbox to help skill-up the state’s workforce.

DWD projects Indiana employers will need to fill 1 million additional jobs in the next 10 years, half of which will not require a four-year college degree, but some type of certification or credential beyond a high school diploma.