A 14-year-old teen is blazing a new trail as the youngest student to ever enroll in the Welding Program at Lone Star College-East Aldine Center.
Carl Isbell was just 13 years old when he first began the welding program. Because of his age, his parents are required to attend the classes with him.
“My son enjoys working with his hands and hopes after high school to work as an automotive technician, and we believed adding Welding to that would make him more employable,” shared Carl’s mother, Brittany Isbell.
“I thought it would be best to get it done now while I am young and do not have any adult responsibilities and other things to get in the way,” Carl added.
Carl’s welding instructor, Jason Durant, CWI/CWE, says he has experience teaching younger students, but this is a first for the welding program at East Aldine Center.
“One of the keys to being successful in teaching anything is meeting the student where they are. In the case of younger students, maturity level and attention span are usually the biggest challenges. Having the support of parents is always a big help in teaching younger students and Carl’s parents have been fantastic in that regard and a pleasure to work with.”
“My favorite part of this experience has been watching him grow in his confidence and knowledge,” Brittany remarked. “As well as seeing him outside of class using his knowledge to look at other welds and critique them.”
Carl’s mother says he does face another obstacle besides his age.
“He has a learning disability called Dysgraphia which makes writing and doing fine motor skills with his hands difficult. Last semester while doing Tig Welding he had a very difficult time learning to feed the wire and move the torch at the same time but was able to overcome and received a ‘B’ in the classes.”
Professor Durant said another skill he tries to impart upon the students is to treat the class like a job.
“We do our best to teach our trade while emulating an industrial environment. Showing up to work on time, finishing tasks properly, following procedures, and demonstrating work ethic are expectations students will encounter day one on the job. Exposure to these things early on and being trained like an adult has been an influence for positive growth and development for Carl. I expect we’ll see him do well in the years to come.”
Carl is expected to graduate in Spring of 2026 with an AAS in Welding Technology, before graduating from high school in May of 2028.
“My plans for when I graduate are to try and find a good auto mechanic shop to work at for a while and to continue my boxing career as a professional.”
For more on the welding program at LSC-East Aldine Center, visit https://www.lonestar.edu/programs-of-study/Welding-Technology-AAS.htm.
Lone Star College System enrolls over 90,000 students each semester providing high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education. LSCS is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Mario K. Castillo, J.D. serves as Chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area. LSC has been named a 2024 Great Colleges to Work For® institution by the Chronicle of Higher Education. LSCS consists of eight colleges, seven centers, eight Workforce Centers of Excellence and Lone Star Corporate College. To learn more, visit Lonestar.edu.
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