PACS Students Ignite Opportunities with Weld Scholars Program
IAW Builds Program Around Success of Prior PACS Workshops
January 16, 2025
Passport Academy continues to lead the way in preparing students for bright futures by participating in the Weld Scholars Program from Industrial Arts Workshop (IAW), a non-profit organization with a goal of teaching Pittsburgh-area youth welding through the lens of creative arts.
The eight-week program brings weekly welding workshops to students across Pittsburgh, combining hands-on skills with soft skills like teamwork, problem-solving and self-confidence. Beyond honing welding and art skills, the program opens doors to careers in the trades. Students earn internship hours while preparing for graduation and can explore future career opportunities through job shadowing along the way.
IAW first partnered with PACS back in 2022, developing a student welding experience that inspired this extended program. PACS and IAW paired up again in 2023 for an all-female student welding cohort, who coined themselves the “PACS Wolfpack Women Welders.” Under the leadership of PACS Principal and CEO Joe Oliphant, these partnerships with IAW showcased how hands-on learning can transform lives.
“Our collaboration with IAW has been successful on so many levels,” Oliphant said. “Our students have not only learned technical skills and metalworking techniques, but also how to work together as a team and take a project from start to finish. The program is more than a starting point for a career in the trades—it’s a character-building experience they’ll benefit from for a lifetime.”
The immense success of both partnerships pushed IAW to expand the model to more schools, with four additional schools joining PACS in the Weld Scholars Program for the 2024-2025 school year. The program launched in October 2024 and will continue through April 2025.
Following the program’s conclusion, students will receive a certificate to demonstrate their completion of introductory welding coursework. For the PACS students who received their welding certificates in December 2023, this was just the beginning. Their dedication and creativity have set the stage for more students to benefit from programs that are #PoweredByPACS. With the continued support of partners like IAW, PACS is helping to shape the future workforce, one weld at a time.
Stay tuned for more updates on student successes #PoweredByPACS via our newsroom.