Double duty

THS student earns college certificate, high school diploma

Crystal R. Albers
Posted 5/18/18

Many local high school seniors will walk across the stage Sunday to accept their diplomas.

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Double duty

THS student earns college certificate, high school diploma

Posted

TORRINGTON – Many local high school seniors will walk across the stage Sunday to accept their diplomas. Far fewer will graduate having already earned a certificate in welding from Eastern Wyoming College. In fact, Torrington High School’s Larry Prieto may be the first-ever Goshen County graduate to do so.

Prieto began his dual enrollment at THS and EWC as a high school freshman, encouraged by Scott Soderstrom, who worked for the school district and as an instructor at the college.

“Freshman year, I took general welding,” Prieto said. “Sophomore year, I took the same class – I was unsure. Junior year, I took basic welding. This year is the year I really started taking a lot of classes, (including) gas metal and flux core  (welding), and then I took advanced arc welding and blueprint reading.”

Prieto said he was able to fit his EWC classes in with his high school schedule, and he was not intimidated by the extra workload.

“I found the welding (to be) easy. With blueprint reading, I had to study a little bit, but it was fairly easy,” Prieto said. “I had heard EWC offered a great program, and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I started welding freshmen year – I did it for fun, at first – and then I figured I could really turn it into a career.”

While he prefers stick welding, through natural talent and his experience at EWC, Prieto can weld using almost any method.

“It’s a great program,” he said. “That’s what I realized – it’s a great program.”

Although Prieto walked across the stage at EWC earlier this month, he hopes to attend the local facility in the future to earn his associate’s degree in applied sciences of welding and joining technology, in addition to machine tooling.

“I want to work towards being a pipeliner,” Prieto said, adding he attributes his achievements, in part, to his instructors and family. “They’ve had my back.

“For anyone who’s trying to follow my path – keep going,” he continued. “It can get bumpy at times. I know there are a lot of students that have a knack for (welding), and they can definitely get through it.”