As I was putting together this issue’s Shop Stories featuring Tim Baber of College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, Calif., one word from our conversation stuck out in my mind: Champion.

Champion is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as a warrior or a fighter; a militant advocate or defender; one that does battle for another’s rights or honor.

A champion quite simply is someone who makes their situation or surroundings better; someone whose personal investment runs so deep outsiders have a hard time separating the entity from the individual. (more...)

It may have been the 11 young welders competing at the AWS/SkillsUSA U.S. Invitational Weld Trials at FABTECH® 2012 in Las Vegas who were in the limelight, but behind each of those students was a teacher who helped them get to that point.

Six of those 11 welders were vying for three spots to continue their journey to represent the U.S. at the 42nd WorldSkills competition in Leipzig, Germany, next summer. The other five were international students who came simply to compete.

Michael Miller, a competitor from Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, Neb., had a mix of nerves and excitement leading up to the competition. (more...)

It's customary for people to reflect on what has taken place over the last year. As I was flipping through each issue of Practical Welding Today from 2012, I found myself re-reading the advice that welders and fabricators shared in each of the Shop Stories features. As we approach the new year, here are a few pieces of advice worth sharing again.

Admit when you don't know the answer to a question. Who on planet Earth enjoys admitting they don't know something? Not you, not I, and definitely not my older brother. But both Dan Grabko of Greenheck Fan Corp., in Schofield, Wis., and Daniel Galiher of Tower International, Livonia, Mich., valued this bit of advice. Sometimes saying "I don't know" is the best recourse, particularly when you really don't know the answer. It's normal to want others to have faith in your subject matter knowledge, but not at the risk of giving them bad advice. As both Grabko and Galiher said, there's nothing wrong with doing a little research and coming back with the right answer later. (more...)

It's true, each day throughout the year marks a "holiday" celebrating something, whether it be well-known and widely recognized or obscure and, well, odd.

Take, for example, Nov. 14, which according to National Whatever Day is Operating Room Nurse Day. The website states it was established on that date back in 1989 by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to honor those responsible for our care and well-being in operating rooms. So if you have the misfortune to undergo a surgical procedure that day, be sure to give a shout out to the nurse taking care of you. (more...)

How do you measure the worth of an education, as well as those who are responsible for guiding you along the way? The answer is simple: You can't. As the old saying goes, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

PWTeacher of the Year was created to serve as a platform to honor the people who have led, mentored, disciplined, challenged, and inspired you to learn how to fish—with a torch and a rod, that is. It is not in any way intended to directly compare and contrast who is better, because that would be impossible. Every teacher has his or her own unique challenges in the classroom, and we celebrate those who willingly take on those obstacles with their students' best interests at heart. (more...)