Jefferson State
creating new opportunities for
single mothers
Story and photos by Graham Hadley
Jefferson State Community College is stepping up its workforce-development efforts with new classes to help train single mothers to become welders.
Over the past few years, Jeff State in Pell City, working with organizations like the St. Clair Economic Development Council, Pell City and St. Clair school systems, and businesses like Garrison Steel, Ford Meterbox and Goodgame Company, has been focusing on workforce development.
Their efforts are helping to train people in skill sets like welding, plumbing and metal fabrication, giving students greater career and earning potential while meeting the critical needs for those skills by businesses.
These classes are not only helping meet the growing demand for those skills, but also dramatically increasing the job options for local residents of all ages.
Their latest classes are no exception.
Students who take the class are eligible to receive their entry-level certification in welding and combines both hands-on training with traditional instruction that cover everything from math to how to use the technical measuring equipment necessary for their new careers, said Danny Taylor, the welding instructor for the program.
For local industries and businesses considering locating in St. Clair, it means a better-trained workforce. For the single mothers, it means a whole new world of employment opportunities.
Several of the 10 students in the class said they first heard about the opportunity through their children’s daycare or school.
“My daughter goes to Head Start. They had a newsletter up for moms who are single to take these classes,” said Sherry Johnson during a break in welding training.
“I was in the Army, and loved it,” she said, but found her employment options limited when she got out. “I saw this as a reboot. I am one of those types, I think anything a man can do, I can do. I am loving this class — it is challenging and not without its issues, but I love it.”
She has two children and sees that the skill set she is receiving now will allow her to better provide for them.
“My own personal plan is to start at an entry-level position, then I want to go back to take more classes to get more certification.”
Amber Moten, who says she is the only left-handed welder in the class, also learned about it through St. Clair Head Start and saw the classes as a good opportunity and a good fit for her.
“My Dad is a welder, and you don’t hear about many girl welders. I wanted to show my girls we could do this. It’s a career as opposed to a job. I love it and look forward to class every day.
“It can be challenging and frustrating — and I love that. I like a challenge,” she said.
Moten, who is currently working as a waitress, said there is a big difference between her current job and what she is learning to do: “I wake up every morning and have to force myself to go to work. I wake up Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays when we have class; I have my coffee and am ready to go.”
Looking out at the working world, Moten said she sees a career in welding as proving more opportunities for steady employment.
“As a waiter, you are living day-to-day. As a welder, you are not just living, it’s a career. … I want to go as high as I can go. I want to be able to obtain the best career I can.”
Balancing classes, work and family is a challenge, but the students said it is well worth it, and not just for them.
“It’s empowering. … It has helped me be a better mother, to teach my girls not to doubt themselves. It has made me feel better about myself in all ways,” Moten said.
Krystin Whidden said she learned about the class through her child’s preschool, and like the others, she sees this as a path to a long-term career and a better life for herself and her family.
She currently works part time baby-sitting, but has no full-time job, and is quick to point out that the income level for welders is significantly better than what most entry-level minimum-wage jobs pay.
And like the others, she says she is not the only one directly benefitting from the classes.
“It’s a big challenge keeping family time and class time — you have a lot of homework when you would normally spend time with your kids,” she said, but added that between the example she is setting for her family and the improvement in quality of life down the road, it is well worth the effort.
“My kids have seen me struggle with homework and still stick with it. It shows them you can make it happen if you truly try. Before this, I never thought they would see me as a role model. It was a shock to me to be able to do this,” she said.
“This is a dream come true for me.”
