Jake Zook – Manufacturing Co-Op

My name is Jacob Zook and I am currently in the Pathways2Success Co-Op program at Garden Spot High School. I joined the program because I like to go out and work and gain experience in the career I want to pursue when I am done with high school.

I am currently working at DenTech industrial which is a welding and metal fabrication shop. The job duties I perform on the job include fabrication of metal, using the hydraulic roll plates to roll ductwork, working the shear to cut sheets of metal, using the saw to cut square tube, angle, round rode and many other things.

I also am learning how to weld galvanized and mild steel. I have practiced tig welding a few times and tried stick welding once. I also have gotten the opportunity to get my forklift certification and I am working towards other certification in the future.  I am working hard to gain as much knowledge as I can and learn the day to day operations and how things run inside the company and see if there is anything that I can do to improve the efficiency of the workplace.

The Co-op class has helped me get more experience in the line of work I want to go into and has shown me to make sure I am on time and reasonable. I have also gotten to take a OSHA construction safety course and explored some types of certifications that would help me maybe get paid more in the future. This class has also help me decide what I want to do and the goals I want to accomplish whenever I am done with high school.