SGTC Welding class creates art for Scarecrow Strut

  South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) students in Brenda Gilliam’s Welding and Joining Technology class on the college’s Crisp County Center recently welded a Halloween display for the Veterans State Park in Cordele Scarecrow Strut Halloween contest. The display features Frankenstein’s monster as a welder, a ghost, a black cat, bats, pumpkins, and other Halloween-themed welded works of art. Some of the decorations were created using templates, but others were drawn and cut by hand. Gilliam integrated the creation of the display into her Ornamental Welding classroom curriculum, and the students were able to complete it in under two weeks. The Scarecrow Strut was kicked off on October 1 and Crisp area schools, civic organizations, nonprofits, and businesses created Halloween-themed displays. With events in abundance at the State Park, including Thomas the Train and Crisp Days of Fall Festival, the decorated scarecrows will have been seen by hundreds by the time the Scarecrow Strut comes to an end after Halloween. “The students used a plasma cutter to cut out all the thin materials, which was a learning experience for most of them, as this is an advanced class!” said Gilliam. “They designed and cut the pumpkins and Frankenstein. Because these were pressure tanks, the students had to learn the proper safety procedures to cut into a tank.” After the tanks and other pieces were cut, the students painted them. Seven of the students assembled the display at Veterans State Park. SGTC’s Crisp County Center Welding and Joining Technology program has been nationally recognized for its excellence in ornamental welding. In 2014, Marie Heimberger of Cordele earned a bronze medal for Welding Sculpture at SkillsUSA National competitions in Kansas City. That year, she and fellow classmate Jake Kelly of Cordele won gold medals for their ornamental welding work at SkillsUSA state competitions, giving them the opportunity to compete at the national level. The next year, Mary Amerson of Cordele and Dylan Manley of Leesburg also won a gold medal at the state level for Welding Sculpture. Gilliam’s Welding and Joining Technology program had also brought home several other national and state medals in previous years. For more information about the Crisp County Center Welding and Joining Technology program at South Georgia Tech, contact Brenda Butler Gilliam at 229.271.4054 or bbutler@southgatech.edu. To inquire about the Americus campus Welding and Joining Technology program, contact instructor Ted Eschmann at 229.931.2597 or teschmann@southgatech.edu. South Georgia Technical College is currently registering students for spring semester on both the Americus and Crisp County Center campuses, which begins Monday, January 9th, 2017. There will be a registration and orientation session on Thursday, November 10th and another on Thursday, January 5th, 2017. South Georgia Technical College has a one-stop admissions process that allows students to apply, enroll, and register in the same day. Students also need to apply for financial aid as soon as possible if they have not already done so. To apply for admission to South Georgia Technical College in Americus call 229.931.2252 or 229.931.2760 or 1.800.928.0283 and in Cordele, call 229.271.4051. Students must complete an application for admission with a non-refundable $25 application fee. South Georgia Tech currently offers over 200 different associate degree, diploma, and short term technical certificate of credit classes. Enroll today and get ahead in your chosen career. For more information about South Georgia Technical College and its programs of study, visit the website at: www.southgatech.edu. The final product at Veterans State Park in Cordele.