Sheridan High School Teacher Helps School Win $50,000 For Welding Program

A Sheridan High School welding teacher has welded his way into getting new equipment for the school.

Clayton Christensen was named one of 25 nationwide skilled trade teacher prize winners of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools for this year.

The prize of $50-thousand is an annual award from Harbor Freight, which recognizes outstanding skilled trade teachers in U.S. public high schools, and the prize is designed to shine a light on excellent skilled trades education and build a network of exceptional trades teachers.

Christensen says he was the one who entered Sheridan High School into the contest, as a way to get some upgraded tools to make it easier on some projects and it was a way to better promote the welding program to students.

“I want to give kids that opportunity to go into a skills trade and see that there’s a lot of options out there and really good options for kids and they don’t have to go to a 4-year university in order to make a really good life. I think there’s a lot of ‘ah ha’ moments in welding, so when I get that first year kid and they’re struggling and struggling and struggling and then finally there’s a light bulb and it seems to happen with more and more kids than maybe  anywhere else and just seeing that and they figure it out and they cruise through the rest of it, is probably what keeps me going everyday.”

Christensen says he was born in Sheridan and is a 2008 graduate of Wright High School.

Harbor Freight has been presenting the The Tools for Schools award each year since 2017, and is awarding $1.5 million in prize money this year.