As a welding and metal fabrication teacher, Donald Mattoon's main goal isn't for all his students to become professional welders; instead, he is most passionate about using welding to teach teenagers valuable life skills.

"If we can sprinkle some welding and metal fabrication on top of it-that's fantastic," he says about teaching welding. "I want [students] to learn about time management. I want them to learn about independent problem-solving. I want them to establish a work ethic and learn how to meet deadlines and time [constraints]. I want them to be able to persevere when times get tough."

As the United States continues to face economic pressures, which disproportionately affect middle and lower-income households, career and technical education offers pathways for students to enter stable careers after high school.

Under Mattoon's supervision, students at Capital Region BOCES-a hub of specialized services that includes career and technical education in Albany, N.Y.-learn about the art of welding, using high-heat equipment like torches to fuse metal pieces together. It's a skill that is found in industries such as manufacturing, construction, aerospace and energy. The process to master this trade takes practice, patience and precision.

Deep inside Mattoon's classroom

When students enter Mattoon's class, they receive a blueprint of the project they are assigned to build. The students must then collect the necessary materials from the class and weld the parts together for a grade.

In one project, Mattoon had the students weld a piggy bank. By using project-based learning-a teaching method in which students work on a project for an extended period-he taught students about home finances, such as checking and savings accounts. This semester, the students had to weld together an aluminum die and ornamental roses. And for the students' capstone project, they are put into groups and given three weeks to build a firepit.

In that project, students research firepits and design a detailed blueprint of the pit before they start building. Students must call steel distributors to find out how much the material costs; come up with an hourly wage; and detail how much they will sell the firepit for and the challenges that came along with building it. At the end of the project, the students present their work in front of the class like business owners selling a product.

"I just really enjoy the opportunity to pass down welding knowledge to the next generation," Mattoon says. "There are a lot of things in the field when you're working these nine-to-10-hour days that a textbook or a formal curriculum can't express to these young individuals."

For a while, career and trade education have been stigmatized as an alternative pathway for students who didn't do well academically. But Mattoon shakes his head at this misconception.

"The trades are booming," Mattoon says. "Wages are going up, and people are realizing that this is a great pathway for a young individual to travel other than going to college."

A lifelong welder, Mattoon first became interested in welding as a junior at BOCES, where he learned the fundamentals of the craft. Soon after graduating from high school in 2007, he earned a career and technical education endorsement on his diploma and went to a community college. At the time, there was a strong push for students to attend college. But, after two semesters of studying business administration at Schenectady County Community College, he realized he wanted to pursue career and technical education instead. Mattoon then enrolled in and completed a 900-hour certification program. He now shares his skills and knowledge with his students.

After spending eight years at BOCES teaching welding, Mattoon was named the American Welding Society District 6 Educator of the Year in May. The award is given to trade instructors who have teaching activities that are exceptional and show advanced welding knowledge.

"My students are doing some of the most amazing things at a high school level. If anyone came in here, and they saw what any of these high school kids were doing, they'd be blown away," he says. "It took me a long time to realize that if you push these individuals and you ask a lot of them, they will achieve that ask."

[Alvin Buyinza]