(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) – Two Breckenridge High School seniors gained valuable welding experience at the recent 2025 SkillsUSA Texas Leadership and Skills Conference in Corpus Christi.
Elijah Chisholm and Alex Franco are dual credit students in Texas State Technical College’s Welding Technology program at the Breckenridge campus. The high school students joined TSTC Welding Technology student Ozzy Pacheco, of Graham, to form a Welding Fabrication team for the state conference. The team competed at the postsecondary level at Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd. in Ingleside but did not place in the top three in the state.
“I wanted to get the experience in a work setting outdoors,” Chisholm said about the competition. “I wanted to get better at working as a team.”
Franco said he can feel himself getting better every time he walks into a welding booth. He was new to welding when he began taking dual credit courses at TSTC during his junior year of high school. He said being part of SkillsUSA has taught him to pay attention to small details when welding.
“It feels good and keeps me ahead,” Franco said.
Chisholm and Franco said they chose to pursue welding because of the travel opportunities and the pay.
Pacheco said it is great that the high school students are starting their welding careers early.
“It’s good they are in a trade in need of welders right now,” Pacheco said.
Jacob Gonzales, an instructor in TSTC’s Welding Technology program, said this was the first time in several years that welding students from the campus had taken part in SkillsUSA. He said the high school students stood out for their punctuality, skills, and already having jobs at EZ Pack, Bridgeport Truck Manufacturing in Breckenridge.
The high school students take welding classes in the mornings at TSTC and high school classes in the afternoons. Gonzales said the fabrication team practiced together on Fridays.
“It’s like a job — show up and go home,” he said.
Chisholm and Franco plan to return to TSTC’s Breckenridge campus this fall to continue working on certificates of completion in the Welding Technology program.
“They will come in with more confidence and carry that into their second and third semesters in college,” Gonzales said.
SkillsUSA is a professional organization focused on employability, leadership and technical skills that help college students pursue successful careers and be part of a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA has more than 100 contests at the state and national levels in which students can compete.
For more information on SkillsUSA Texas, go to skillsusatx.org.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
