Foothills welders firmly on the podium

Education: Nic Kitt advances to National final in Quebec City

A pair of Foothills Composite welding students have formed a close bond with one another during their past three years in instructor Virgil Green’s class.

They are so close they were side-by-side on the podium at the Skills Alberta competition in Edmonton in May.

A pair of Foothills Composite welding students have formed a close bond with one another during their past three years in instructor Virgil Green’s class.

They are so close they were side-by-side on the podium at the Skills Alberta competition in Edmonton in May.

Nic Kitt and Jordan Hansen finished first and second respectively out of 22 at the competition on May 5-6.

“We had to make a project in a certain amount of time and you were judged by the fit of the project and the weld appearance,” Kitt said.

The pair finished first and second at the Calgary regional competition in March to qualify for provincials. They have been taking extra instruction at SAIT since January in preparation for the Alberta championship.

“We also did some extra work in class — we still had to do our regular work,” Hansen said.

They didn’t go into the provincial finals blind, however.

“There were pictures on the Internet of the project and the SAIT instructors helped us with our welds,” Kitt said.

The project consisted of taking assorted sizes of metal and iron and welding them together to form four metallic square logs stacked on top of each other.

It took both of the welders nearly the entire six hours to complete the project — three hours on Day 1 and another three hours on Day 2.

“You are in this little booth and no one can see you and you can’t see them,” Hansen said. “It wasn’t a really hard project, it was more difficult to get your welds looking really good rather than build it.”

He added because not all the parts were the same size it made it difficult to weld as they were pieced together.

“Some of the pieces were too long so we had to modify the project to make them fit,” Hansen said. “You weren’t allowed to cut them — there were no power tools allowed.”

Kitt said the hardest part of the project was getting it done on time.

“The welds weren’t really hard because we practiced them all the time,” Kitt said. “It just took a lot of time.”

Kitt’s and Hansen’s booths were side-by-side at the competition. So they were able to converse and every once and awhile take a peek at how each other was doing.

When the six hours in a tiny booth were finished, they walked out and put their finished work on tables along with the other competitors.

“Coming out of there, we got to see the other projects and we felt we were going to do pretty well,” Kitt said.

They should have gone and tried to calm the nerves of Foothills teacher Virgil Green who was a nervous wreck.

“It is the worst because you are sitting there and you can’t see what they are doing,” Green said with a laugh. “After they (Kitt and Hansen) got to see the other competitors’ projects, they came back to tell me they thought they would end up on the podium, that has never

happened before.”

The students credited Green for their success.

“Mr. Green really pushes us to do well — he strives for excellence all the time,” Hansen said.

Green said the welding group is much like the Foothills Falcons football team. It’s a close-knit group that works together for success.

“What makes us successful is the support we get from the alumni and the local community,” Green said. “One of my original students, Arlan Minue, is now out and working. He came in and gave us a $500 donation for the competition.

“Arlan saw the value of the program and wanted to give back.”

Kitt comes by his love of welding honestly. His father, Andy Kitt, is a welder and he often tagged along to help. Hansen got the welding bug the minute he saw it was offered at Foothills Composite High School.

“When I saw the course was available, I thought I would try it and I got hooked,” he said. “It (the welding class) will give us a good head start for our futures when we are out of school.”

Kitt finished third at the nationals in Quebec City earlier in June.

Hansen has no sour grapes about missing out on the trip because he finished second.

“If I was going to lose to anybody I’m glad it was Nic since we are such good friends,” Hansen said.

Both Hansen and Kitt plan to seek welding as a career when after high school graduation.