JH Kelly held its first Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE) program in June for 20 high school students. Adriana Salgado, HR specialist & recruiter, said the event was a lot of work but very rewarding for the team. Salgado started the recruiting process in January 2025, connecting with local high schools, their CTE programs and career counselors, and participating in eight career fairs to spread the word.
“I worked with marketing to create a social media post and a flyer that I could share with the students,” she says. “We received 40 applications, and I reviewed them all, conducted 32 interviews, and selected 20 students.”
Over four days, students created a rose, a trash can, a toolbox, and a round elbow, and welded a small I beam tee fitting and a small box, while learning to use different machines and equipment.
“I feel really good about the program,” Salgado says. “I know one participant is working as a material handler in the electrical fabrication shop, another got a job at Waite Specialties, and the big success is that one of the students received the “Golden Ticket”.
A Golden Ticket gives the student automatic entry to the Local 66 apprentice program—a significant achievement and a huge benefit to the winner.
“The winner, a student at Rainier High School, has already came by to ask what he should work on through his senior year, and I have given him a lot of ideas to help better prepare him for when he graduates and we have a spot for him to start,” says Jamey Jensen, Longview Sheet Metal shop manager.
Angela Wegener, training and development manager and JH Kelly, says the event was a home run out of the park, especially considering it was the company’s first year running it. “We were well planned and organized well ahead of time, which made things go as smoothly as possible,” she says. “The kids were fantastic, and it made my heart full to see the impact our hard work made in getting them so far ahead in just four days.”
Jensen adds that they had excellent feedback from parents on graduation day. “We already have a much better idea of more ways to keep participants engaged as we go into year two,” he says. “We really enjoyed watching these students get excited about our trade and the other trades the program exposed them to.”
Wegener says Heavy Metal Summer Experience was one of the best community involvement projects JH Kelly has been involved with, and offers this advice to contractors thinking about histing this event:
“Take advantage of all the resources HMSE already has in place, be as prepared in advance as humanly possible, and have fun with the kids. They are eager to learn and are amazing talents in the making.” ■
