Three University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana Secondary Career & Technical Education Center welding students recently fabricated and donated a bicycle rack to the Hope Connexion Outreach Center (HCOC) in Hope, Arkansas. Gavin Smith (Spring Hill High School), Micah Hardee (Spring Hill High School), and Wesley Almand (Nevada High School) created the bike rack from concept to final product in their MIG/TIG welding course at the UA Hope campus. The students said that creating the rack helped them learn and practice valuable skills such as designing and finishing a project from an initial idea to a final product and how to work together as a team to get the job done. Eddie Thomas, UAHT Welding Instructor, said, “These students did a fantastic job fabricating the bike rack, and he appreciates the effort they put into the project and how well they followed instructions in the classroom and welding shop to create such a fine product for Hope Connexion.”

Adam Perry, HCOC Board President, said this donation is definitely a blessing as we have many consumers and sojourners who visit Hope Connexion whose primary mode of transportation is bicycles. “The bike racks will allow our visitors to safely park and lock their bikes while visiting the center and will allow a specific area to park bikes to keep them from being placed in various places on the lawn,” said Perry.

About the UAHT Secondary Career & Technical Education Center:

The University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana Secondary Career & Technical Education Center is an area secondary career center located on the UA Hope and Texarkana Campuses. The Secondary Career Center provides participating high school juniors and seniors with the unique opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school at no charge. The center’s curriculum serves as an extension of the high school curriculum offerings by providing students with hands-on experiences in a variety of career fields taught by UAHT Faculty.

Participating schools include:

UA Texarkana Campus

• Arkansas High School
• ARVA
• Ashdown
• Fouke High School
• Genoa Central High School
• Premier High School

UA Hope Campus

• ARVA
• Blevins High School
• Hope High School
• Lafayette County High School
• Nevada High School
• Prescott High School
• Spring Hill High School

Areas of study:

• Construction Technology (Hope campus only)
• Industrial Equipment Technologies (Hope campus only)
• Information Technology-Coding
• Certified Nursing Assistant
• Emergency Medical Technician
• Welding

For more information or to enroll in the UAHT Secondary Career Center, visit https://www.uaht.edu/academics/career-center.php or talk to your high school counselor today.

Pictured left to right: Eddie Thomas (UAHT Welding Instructor); Gavin Smith (Career Center Student from Spring Hill High School); Micah Hardee (Career Center Student from Spring Hill High School); Wesley Almand (Career Center Student from Nevada High School); Janie Head; Adam Perry (HCOC Board President); Phillip Lewis; Bonnie Lewis; Jennifer Martinez (HCOC Assistant Director)