Dayton Jones became the first to graduate from the CTE Welding Program at Jones College in Stonewall on Friday, June 12. Jones started the program his senior year in high school, and he decided to pursue his degree and complete the program instead of only attaining a certificate of completion for the program. He successfully made it through the program and now has his Associate’s Degree in Applied Science.
“I started the program my senior year in 2018 and finished it in December of 2019,” explained Dayton. “Now, I plan on finding a good job. I think others need to keep going and complete the program too. If you go through the first year, you get a certificate. If you complete it, you get an Associate’s Degree and can make more money.”
While taking the class, Dayton excelled in his work and demonstrated a valuable ingenuity. In fact, his strong work ethic and problem solving abilities have forever left a mark on the program and made a major impact on his instructor, George.
“Dayton was one of my first students to really work hard,” said George. “Dayton has helped me more than anybody else could. Anything I needed, I could stop him from welding. If something was broke, he could fix it; he can take it apart and put it back together without even knowing anything about it. He always did what I asked him to. I had no discipline trouble at all. If I needed a piece of plate or equipment up here I just had to ask him to get the forklift and go get it, and he would. We even have a piece of equipment out there that Dayton designed that is used to pull trailers with a forklift. We even have Dayton’s Engineering welded on it because he thought of the whole thing. He saw us trying to get a trailer out here and came up with the idea of doing it with the forklift. He’s like a son to me now. Dayton will always be in my mind and my heart. He’s just a special kid.”
Dayton has worked hard to earn his degree and will no doubt excel at everything he sets his mind to in the future. Congratulations Dayton on being the first to graduate from the CTE Welding Program at Jones College in Stonewall!
