By GAGE WILSON
For Glasgow News 1
In one corner of Caverna High School, sparks fly as students practice welding beads by hand. Just a few steps away, others sit with tablets programming robotic arms. Under instructor Brad Davis, roughly 40 students are learning not only how to weld, but how to automate.
“We mainly offer Stick and MIG welding,” Davis said. “We do have the capability to do TIG welding, but with this being our first year, we’re not quite that developed yet.”
Davis said the program currently focuses on Stick and MIG techniques, as TIG welding is generally considered more advanced.
Caverna students put together a rig for stick welding in the outdoor welding station, which was announced with a ribbon cutting in Dec. 2024. Gage Wilson/for Glasgow News 1
“We have different demonstrations with different types of metal, a bunch of different pipes that they learn how to weld in circular fashions,” he said. “Which is completely different and has more ‘real world’ applications.”
Caverna senior Gavin Coomer has taken that real-world application beyond the classroom. After a year in the trade program, he is leading a special project with Horse Cave to cut the city’s new welcome sign.
“I came over here, I saw they had a welding program and I love welding,” Coomer said. “We’ve been designing signs. A couple people have been designing them and once we get that down I’m going to cut out a couple on the plasma cutter.”
Coomer said he hopes to attend trade school after graduation and build a career in welding.
Students are also improving their own workspace. One ongoing project includes building a water box outside the shop so hot metal parts can be cooled without having to return indoors.
Caverna educator Brad Davis (right) oversees the district’s trade program. His students recently toured Dart’s facilities to see their studies applied in an industrial setting. Gage Wilson/for Glasgow News 1
While some students prefer more hands-on welding, others have taken to a more behind-the-scenes role. Sophomores Janiya Bradley and Nathan Fierke work with the school’s FANUC robot, assembled by IWS Pro Services out of Cave City and delivered at the start of the school year.
The class utilizes two robot arms: one designed for welding and another for manipulating objects. Students have been practicing with the manipulating arm in preparation for a “final exam” in which they must program it to move three pegs to different locations and then return them to their starting position. Gage Wilson/for Glasgow News 1
“The toughest part for me was the programming,” Bradley said. “So far, we’ve made shapes with it, starting with a square and then a circle and a triangle.”
“We’re still in the process of learning how it moves,” senior Dillon Mauk added.
Davis said robots like these are commonplace in large-scale manufacturing, and exposing students to their operation gives them a competitive edge.
While Mauk aspires to join law enforcement, others plan to continue in the trades. Fierke hopes to enter the locomotive industry, while Bradley sees herself working more on the software side of manufacturing.
For Davis, that range is the point. Whether his students leave to strike an arc, program a robot or pursue a different path entirely, they are gaining firsthand exposure to an evolving industry.
In one corner of the lab, sparks still crackle against steel. In the other, robotic arms whirl with precision, two sides of the same trade taking shape under one roof.
Key Facts:
– About 40 Caverna High School students are enrolled in a first-year trade program.
– Instructor Brad Davis is teaching Stick and MIG welding, with TIG welding planned as the program develops.
– Students are working on community projects, including cutting Horse Cave’s new welcome sign.
– The class is also learning to program FANUC robot arms, assembled by IWS Pro Services of Cave City.
– A robotics “final exam” requires students to program a robot to move three pegs and return them to place.
– Students’ career goals range from welding and locomotive work to law enforcement and software for manufacturing.
