For the first time, a Libby High School welding program saw a 100 percent rate of successful certification for its 18 students — including the first two girls to be certified in the program, which is run through Flathead Valley Community College.

The certification “is a door opener” for students, said instructor John Love.

“Not many people have these certifications anymore,” he said. “It’s a hands-on skill that the students can take out and use in the industry immediately.”

Love said welders are in demand nationwide, due in part to the retirement of skilled workers that is leading to huge gaps in the industry.

Welding students begin learning with teacher Mort Curtiss. By the time Love gets them, they are usually competent and ready to begin testing for the certification. Testing begins with G1, or flat position welding, and finishes with G3, or vertical welding. In class and in testing, students work with 7018 rod — a notoriously difficult rod that Love said prepares students to work with any other rod.

Students earn six college credits through the welding course, and Love said the optional certification testing is “a bonus.”

One test students must pass is the bend test, which involves bending a flat sheet of metal two ways and showing a perfect fold, with no cracks or splits.

The students, which included girls Missy Vandeberg and Terina Wisdom, completed their G3 testing May 19.

In addition to opening doors for students, certification teaches students valuable life skills, Love said.

“It shows they can complete something and it [completing the test] shows perseverance,” he said.