BILLINGS — The 39th annual holiday parade took place in downtown Billings on Friday night; among the floats was one created by the students of the Career Center.
“We decided to have the welding kids create us a welded UFO, and we’re gonna have aliens and people walking around with UFO umbrellas," said Aurora Anttila, the president and founder of Career Center's student advisory board.
This year's parade theme was "out of this world."
“It wasn’t necessarily horrible, but it was just, like I said, a pain getting it perfect," said Robbie Mourich, a Career Center welding student who helped handcraft the UFO float.
Passionate about his trade, Mourich said he appreciates the specialized classes at his school because he feels they will better prepare him for his future.
“It’s almost like an art. When you’re down there laying a bead or striking an arc – I don’t know. It’s just something special," said Mourich.
One of 1,200 other Career Center students, he said he aspires to be a pipeline welder when he completes his high school education.
“Sometimes, I think about counting, ‘cause sometimes I tend to speed up. So, sometimes I have to slow myself down. I mean, there’s a range of things. Sometimes I’ll sing myself a little song," said Mourich, while explaining the welding process.
Rob Paul, a Career Center social studies teacher and advisor for the student advisory board said he believes the welding students "blew (the float) out of the ballpark."
