Decorah High School’s welding department was awarded a $2,000 McElroy Excellence in Education Enrichment Grant on December 2. The funded project, titled Welding Safety Equipment, will allow the department to purchase updated safety gear for welding students, including caps, pliers, gloves, and jackets. Many of the current gloves and jackets are more than 10 years old, and the program has never had welding caps or pliers available. The new equipment will help reinforce the importance of safety, support safe welding practices, and enable more students to participate in welding classes simultaneously.
Industrial Technology Instructor Brian Waskow shared, “I’m excited to use this equipment to teach students the importance of safety while we collaborate with the community.”
Keystone AEA is the facilitating agency of the McElroy Grant. The purpose of the program is to support classroom teachers in developing innovative and meaningful educational experiences for their students. Grant awards, ranging from $500 to $2,000, may be used for equipment, materials, and other instructional needs not typically funded by school district budgets.
This year, 39 grant applications totaling approximately $65,594.48 were submitted by teachers within Keystone AEA 1. With only $30,000 available, funding was awarded to the 18 highest-scoring proposals. A complete list of funded projects is available on the Keystone AEA website.
The Welding Safety Equipment project was developed by Industrial Technology Instructor Brian Waskow. Technical support was provided by Bev Berns with Keystone AEA as well as Maddie Putnam-Keck, Winneshiek County Development & Tourism Project Coordinator and NICC/DHS Work-Based Learning Coordinator.