The Workbench Project, an initiative by Communities United, is wrapping up its grassroots summer welding program at Austin College and Career Academy with a six-foot metal sculpture of a welding hood, created by youth participants to reflect themes of identity and power.
Communities United is a survivor-led, intergenerational racial justice organization in Chicago that focuses on healing-centered youth development and social justice issues across housing, health, education and criminal justice.
Keishon Thompson leads this hands-on welding class, where students build skills through projects like metal sculptures. He’s a welding instructor for Welders United with nine years of experience, starting as an auto body teacher at Prosser Career Academy.
For many students, the welding program was a chance to gain hands-on skills, build lasting friendships, and take pride in creating something meaningful for their community.
“I show them the basics of welding. If it’s something they really enjoy, especially if it’s their first time trying it, I do my best to help them understand the skill. If they truly want to invest in it and pursue it further, this is their first real experience,” Thompson said.
One of Tristian Butler’s favorite parts of the welding program was making new friends and learning new skills. He began forming those friendships a little after the first week of the program.
“I found this welding program and thought it was interesting. We learned how to do a T-joint — you just grab two pieces of metal and use the basic techniques. It’s one of those foundational skills,” Butler said.
For Jayciah Smith, he found learning to weld rewarding, but the hardest part was being patient and trusting the process, which he overcame through teamwork and persistence.
“While I learn from myself, it’s about staying consistent, becoming a better person, you know what I’m saying, and sticking to my goal,” Smith said.
Janae Corner joined the welding program to explore new opportunities beyond her interest in culinary arts. Looking to try something different, she saw welding as a fresh and exciting challenge.
“When I made the little diamonds during our group project, where we had to fold up the metal and weld it together, I was really proud of that, and also of the roses we had cut out too,” Corner said.
When asked what Corner hopes someone from the community feels or thinks when they see something she helped create, she said she hopes they feel proud and inspired by the work.
“I think they’ll feel proud and happy about it, because most kids our age aren’t usually doing things for the community. A lot are dealing with drugs, gun violence, and stuff like that. But when people see our work, I think they’ll feel like, dang, these kids are really intelligent — they really put in the effort and are doing something different from what others are doing,” Corner said.
Similarly, Ayanna Smith joined the welding program looking for something fun and productive to do over the summer, especially something close to home. She looked up what welding involved and thought it seemed interesting, so she decided to apply. Although she had some initial doubts and found it difficult at first, she was eager to learn.
“I’m really proud of us for making it this far because we didn’t quit or give up, and we’re still here, working hard to build it,” Smith said.
Smith’s favorite part was having a fun and supportive teacher, Mr. Thompson and being around kind, welcoming people.
As part of the course, students created art from materials like bolts, crafting pieces such as metal roses. One of their standout ideas was designing a welding mask, which Thompson encouraged and supported.
“It’s more of a showcase, saying, ‘Look, we can make things here. It only takes nine weeks to learn, and this is the outcome—the art we create.’ The welding mask is a great example of what we do here. That mask itself protects you, but it also really shows their skills to cut, weld, and create things as art,” Thompson said. “It’s not always industrial; it’s something fun they can put together as a team.”
Marcus Clemons, instructional lead coach for Austin College and Career Academy, said Dr. LaTacia Morgan-Greene, principal of the school has tried to bring those programs to Austin, but sometimes they’ve been blocked by CPS and similar obstacles.
“We’re called Austin College and Career Academy for a reason. We want these programs because, yes, we want to encourage every student to pursue college, but we also want them to have access to trades and opportunities to earn certificates so they can support their families — which is what many kids want to do,” Clemons said.
