Worcester, Mass. — Welding students at Worcester Technical High School cut out metal snowflakes to make holiday-themed wreaths to hang on lamp posts around the city.
“We have students who come back that have been gone for five to 10 years and they’re like oh, I remember those wreaths,” welding department head Gregg L’Esperance said.
The shop tradition dates back at least a decade when the first group of welding students made about 300 wreaths for the city. Students now, work to fix and repair those original wreaths.
“They’re on light poles November and December, but the rest of the year they aren’t. So, truck drivers will pull up to the Flying Rhino or somewhere along Shrewsbury Street and they’ll say oh, what’s that noise? And they get out and realize they just hit a wreath,” L’Esperance said. “Sometimes, they fall off the pole and they’re really wrecked so we almost have to take them apart and redo them.”
This year, the class fixed 15 wreaths. Students were involved in every step of the process from drawing up the snowflake designs to the final product.
“It takes a while to get everything welded and cut out and placed right,” junior Juleyanah Ruiz said. “There’s a lot of minor details that go into it.”
The wreaths are made from aluminum to hold up in winter weather and take about two class days to finish.
The project helps future welders practice several different weld patterns and techniques and work around any trouble when something doesn’t go as planned.
“It’s not just doing the same thing over and over again,” senior Devan Smith said. “You run into problems and have to find ways to solve them. Really, that’s my favorite part about welding.”
From the shop to downtown Worcester, students say they brag to family and friends whenever they pass by their shiny creations.
“I’m always like, I probably made that one,” senior Logan Puente said. “I’m looking for my initials on one of them.”