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Meet Cody Kelley, a rising senior at Lee County High School who’s working as a welder at Kenny’s Truck & Trailer Repair in Albany. Cody took a construction safety course as a freshman, then chose instructor John Wanner’s welding program as a career pathway. As he recalls, “When I saw welding [as an option], I thought, ‘Hey, I’ve never done something like this. Let’s take that challenge and figure it out.’ I started welding and I couldn’t do it to save my life for like the first two weeks, but then I finally picked it up and I was like, ‘This is awesome!’” Cody plans to attend welding school after graduation, either at Georgia Trade School in Acworth or Tulsa Welding School in Jacksonville, Florida. In the meantime, he’s a Work Based Learning (WBL) student for company owner Kenny Freeman, who commends Cody for “a really good work ethic” and being “eager to learn.” On that last point, Cody says he and his parents have a routine. “When I get home from work, my parents ask me, ‘What did you learn?’” he explains. “If I can’t give them an answer, they say, ‘You didn’t work today.’ But every single night I give them an answer and they can see that I took notice of what I did.” Cody’s work at Kenny’s covers a wide range of repairs and other challenges. “What’s good about him working here is we don’t do the same thing every day,” Freeman says. “There’s always a repair needed, and nothing breaks the same way. He’s put flooring in a trailer. He’s put a curtainside trailer together. He’s learning a lot of different skills.” Cody began his WBL work in early 2024, so by the time he graduates from Lee County in 2025 and heads off to welding school, he’ll have a big head start in his profession. “I’m dead set on welding as a career,” he says. #constructionready #iamconstructionready #constructioncareers #skilledtrades #successstories #thursdaythrivers Georgia Department of Education

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