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An interactive sculpture fabricated by Aztec High School’s next generation of welders joins the scenery of Colorado River State Historic Park, providing new photo ops to those who visit the locale at 201 N. Fourth Avenue.
Unveiled Wednesday, the “Youma” selfie station is the fruition of a three-year-old vision shared by the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area (YCNHA), Greater Yuma Economic Development Council and Weld Like A Girl’s chief wellness welder Shanen Aranmor, who helped charter Aztec’s welding program last fall.
An interactive sculpture fabricated by Aztec High School’s next generation of welders joins the scenery of Colorado River State Historic Park, providing new photo ops to those who visit the locale at 201 N. Fourth Avenue.
Unveiled Wednesday, the “Youma” selfie station is the fruition of a three-year-old vision shared by the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area (YCNHA), Greater Yuma Economic Development Council and Weld Like A Girl’s chief wellness welder Shanen Aranmor, who helped charter Aztec’s welding program last fall.
“We wanted something that would bring awareness to Yuma, that would make us more than a gas stop and really make people own our city and what makes Yuma so unique,” said Sarah Halligan, communications specialist for YCNHA.
Representing the “Y” in Yuma, visitors are encouraged to snap a photo by the sculpture and share it to social media with the hashtag #youma – which isn’t a typo, Halligan noted – and what they appreciate most about the city they call home.
“We want to hear your story – why do you love Yuma, what makes Yuma unique to you, what are your favorite attractions?” she said.
Weighing in around 1,000 pounds and measuring at 11 feet long, the sculpture encloses a geocache in the process of becoming registered with geocaching.com as well as a time capsule storing letters penned by the students to their future selves, photos documenting their welding process, Aztec High School memorabilia, brochures from the park and, as a nod to the days of the coronavirus pandemic, a mask.
“You can go through a traditional welding program and do lines on a plate, but I want them to be able to look at something at the end and say, ‘I’m really proud of that,’” said Aranmor.
And that’s exactly what Ramon Altamirano is saying.
“It’s something I will never forget, something that’s going to be part of this city for a very long time,” he said. “I don’t usually give myself a pat on the back, but I’m pretty proud of myself. I always knew I would do something good one day in my life, and that’s something I can say, ‘I did good’ about. I’m proud of that.”
Welding was never on his radar as a career option, Altamirano said, but now with the skills and experience he’s gained through the project, it’s a viable prospect.
“It made me think that I can look forward to doing that in the future – I can possibly become a welder,” he said.
For Hector Martinez, it was seeing the project from start to finish and that made the difference.
“It feels good,” he said. “In the future, it’s always going to be there and I’ll know that I did it.”
Having completed their Welding I course, the students have the opportunity to enroll in Welding II next year to gain additional skills and certification while mentoring incoming students who, like themselves when the program started last fall, will be working toward their own first project.
“One of the most important things that happened throughout this semester was confidence was built,” said Aranmor. “I really, really believe that all adults should be treasure hunters, and we definitely found a treasure in these guys. Even on days when they didn’t show up, they’d come back and work just as hard and that was OK. Part of this has been about learning that even if you screw up and sleep in one day, you’re still just as valuable as a team member.”
Aranmor recalls wrapping up a class at the workshop one weekend when she spotted Jessie Vargas, another one of her welding students, rounding the corner with a friend to show off the sculpture and put some extra time into the project
“I thought, ‘This is a Sunday afternoon, he doesn’t get extra credit for this, he doesn’t get any recognition from his school – this is literally what he wants to do. He’s here on his own time,’” Aranmor said. “To have inspired that makes my heart feel full.”
Now that they’ve been exposed to the trade, “can’t” is no longer part of the students’ vocabulary; the doorway to their fullest potential has widened, propped open by a sense of pride in a job well done.
“It was pretty cool, working with others and seeing that I could weld,” said Miguel Ballesteros, who plans to join his brothers in the profession once he’s certified. “I can say I made something for Yuma; I left something behind.”
