Signs of Life: Westpointe

Parts of Salt Lake Community College are slowly beginning to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, ushering in a "new normal" in a community that normally thrives on unfettered access to the environment and resources that make SLCC one of the top community colleges in the nation. Signs of Life is a series that shines a light on stops along the long road back to normal operations.

Elli Cunanan seems unphased as an otherworldly-looking figure hovers ominously in the background over a fellow welding student. Instead, Elli pays rapt attention to instructor Richard Prazen as he demonstrates how to shape small pieces of flat metal into a rose.

 

To the uninitiated, you’d swear you were seeing some post-apocalyptic creature, with its giant helmet and breathing apparatus attached at the waist by a large tube. A Star Wars character comes to mind. The strange sighting, however, is just part of the new normal during a global pandemic while in the welding lab at Salt Lake Community College’s Westpointe Workforce Training and Education Center.

 

The portentous personage is actually an instructor, wearing the Miller 794 series welding helmet with a built-in air purifying unit. The respirator pack feeds constant fresh air to the wearer, who often needs to be near students to offer advice on the fly. Administrators purchased the $1,200 units for each of SLCC’s welding instructors.

 

“We have to be in close proximity to students – there’s no way you can get around it,” says Richard, whose thick, hard hands tell of a man who has made a living from artistic welding for more than 50 years. “If one person gets sick, we shut the whole thing down. There’s a lot at stake.”

Richard Prazen shows off the new mask and breathing gear.

No one was certain there would even be a lab for Richard’s basic metal sculpting class. But when the state moved to a yellow “low risk” phase, the college figured out a way to do it. Clear face shields and cloth masks are required to be worn by students when interacting with each other or their instructors. All equipment gets a good scrubbing after each use. Anything that gets touched also gets sanitized.

 

“I feel totally safe,” Elli says, looking around the expansive welding lab. “I like that everything is super spaced out.” Good for social distancing. The 20-year-old from Salt Lake City is majoring in graphic design at a four-year school, which requires metal sculpting class for her major. “I heard this class was better than the equivalent,” she says about deciding to take the SLCC course instead of the one being offered at her school. Elli is also taking art history and Photoshop through SLCC this summer. “This is cheaper at SLCC.”

Elli Cunanan grinds down the rough edges on her cube.

The newer Westpointe Campus, with all of its new equipment and resources, was an added bonus for Elli. “I had no idea this building existed,” she says. “It’s gorgeous. This building is awesome.” After letting sparks fly from a grinder to smooth out the rough edges on a cube she made, it was on to making the rose under Richard’s watchful eye.

 

“I love sharing this with students,” he says. “You see them light up once they realize what they can learn. There is a whole world to metal sculpting – textures, coloring, building the framework. And they love learning from someone who actually makes a living from this. I’m just thankful to be here.”