INDIANAPOLIS — There’s a new place where metal meets heat on Indy’s west side and it’s sparking future career opportunities.
Pike High School senior Ashley Macias is one of 11 kids behind those welding helmets.
“Being Hispanic and Latina -- it’s something that not a lot of people would think about for welding, especially for a girl,” Macias said.
Macias is breaking physical and social molds, and it’s only her first week of welding.
This is the first time the Latinas Welding Guild has offered a welding camp to Hoosier youth. It’s a non-profit funded by female Latina welders.
“I’m so thankful for them,” Macias said.
Now, students have five full days to get their hands on a lucrative trade.
“I’ve never done this, and I love it. Sparks coming at you, it’s scary but it’s also really fun,” Macias said.
The fun brings strangers from different schools together.
“I mean, I recommend coming here all the time,” Pike High School senior Jame De Paz said. "I wanted to try it out and I ended up really liking it.”
Donors make it financially possible for them to design and fabricate.
“They already have anything set up so when we come, we’re already ready to do our work,” De Paz said.
Right now, there are about 29,000 open welding jobs in the state of Indiana. This camp is meant to encourage students to explore the craft of welding. On average, welders make around $43,000 a year in the Hoosier state.
“Career options in welding are almost limitless. I mean look around; everything is welded," Latinas Welding Guild instructor Kelli Thomas said.
Thomas says students grow beyond career skills during the camp. They also learn how to work together, collaborate, communicate properly and build relationships.
The program hopes to empower the Latinx community this Hispanic Heritage Month.
“We’re just excited to have Latinas and women in leadership and leading the mission is important even for youth. It’s also seeking more adults that look like them in leadership,” Latinas Welding Guild founder Consuelo Lockhart said.
Now the Latina Welding Guild is igniting a future in welding for generations to come.
“I hope people take a risk or a leap. It’s a new experience — building skills and being able to use those skills to get a wonderful job,” Macias said.
Macias says she plans to go to school and get a job in welding once she graduates.
Students in the program began their Gas Metal Arc Welding Certification through the American Welding Society.
The Latinas Welding Guild plans to have summer camps in Fishers, Columbus and Westfield.
Projects the students worked on will be sold at the Holiday Market to raise money for other students to join a future camp.
For more information on the Latinas Welding Guild, click here.
