Hancock junior Sam Bastian was part of the CCISD CTE Construction Technology team taking second in the U.P. for the chicken coop building competition. Bastian teamed with classmates Trevor Halonen, a junior from Jeffers, and fellow Hancock juniors John Wuebben and Eric Simonson for the 4.5-hour build utilizing predetermined specifications.

The teams moved between stages only after a judge approved them for quality and safety. The top three teams in the competition won shopping sprees at Getz’s Department Store in Marquette. Each of the CCISD CTE team members won $100 gift cards for their efforts.

“I had a lot of fun even though I didn’t know what to expect,” said Bastian. “The competition was challenging, but we had a good time.

“I like building, so putting together a chicken coop in a new style to me was a challenge and a good learning experience. The competition will certainly help me in the future.”

Photo courtesy of Copper Country ISD Career & Technical Education Walker Hill, a senior from Houghton High School, works on fabricating a custom part in the CTE Welding/Manufacturing class. Hill used the skills he learned in CTE to take second place in the TIG welding competition at the UP CTE Skills Challenge in Marquette.

In the future, Bastian is planning to attend college and pursue a degree related to the construction field.

As the construction students were building, 11 CTE Welding/Manufacturing students competed in NMU’s Jacobetti Center welding lab. Students took part in the competition in three categories, MIG (GMAW), Stick (SMAW), and TIG (GTAW).

Calumet senior Cliff Jurmu took first in the GTAW, while fellow CCISD student Walker Hill (Houghton Senior) took second in the same event. Luc Destrampe, a junior from Lake Linden, was the only other CCISD representative to take top honors, earning a second-place finish in SMAW.

The students who placed in the top three received medals for their efforts and had the opportunity to use NMU’s welding lab while interacting with instructors for the rest of the day.

Walker Hill praised the experience of participating in the skills competition.

“It was fun, to be honest, I love doing stuff like that,” he said. “The opportunity to go and weld and talk about welding is always a nice experience.”

He added a message for future CTE students, “if you have the chance to go and participate in competitions like this, you should definitely do it!”

Hill plans to attend Advanced Welding Institute next year and hopes to weld professionally on a rig or in a fabrication shop one day. Either way, he intends to advance his learning and become a professional in the field utilizing skills learned through CTE.

To learn more about CTE Construction Technology, Welding/Manufacturing, or any program, visit the CCISD website at copperisd.org or call 906-482-4250 x300.