Middleburgh Student Solid Future in Family Business with BOCES

SCHOHARIE – A Middleburgh High School senior is forging a bright future at Capital Region BOCES with plans to join the family business.

Wyatt Strobeck is in the second year of the Welding and Metal Fabrication program at the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center – Schoharie Campus. He is among more than five-dozen students enrolled in the program on the Schoharie and Albany campuses.

“The program is pretty fun because you get a lot of freedom in terms of what you want to weld and you can work on projects from home as long as they are part of the curriculum,” said Strobeck.

One of those projects he worked on recently is a 20-sided die that may serve as a holiday ornament or a more generic decoration.

“I am enjoying challenging myself,” he said.

Strobeck is not new to welding. He said he has been practicing the craft “for a long time.”

“Thanks to my grandfather, I knew a lot before I came to BOCES. But at BOCES, I have been able to hone my skills and tighten up what I know,” Strobeck said.’

His grandfather, Brent Pruiksma, owns Iron Horse Welding in Medusa, Greene County, and started Strobeck in the trade at a young age.

“I plan to go to work for him when I graduate and continue the family business,” Strobeck said.

Students in the two-year Welding and Metal Fabrication program learn American Welding Society standards and earn certifications that prepare them for a career in the welding industry. For more information, go to https://www.capitalregionboces.org/career-technical-education/courses-programs/welding-metal-fabrication/.