America’s best apprentice

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Local welder Pete LaRou is now the best apprentice in both the U.S. and Canada. (Herald File Photo)

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Between the two LaRou brothers – Pete and Brian – the pinnacle of the welding trade is pretty much centered here in Morris. Younger brother Brian, as reported in the Morris Daily Herald this summer, took first in state in the high school level welding competition, then took second in the nation. He was only five-one hundredths of a point from first.

Three years ago, his older brother Pete also took first in state for welding, and place fifth nationally.

Last month, Pete entered welding competitions as a professional in the field, made it all the way to the international competition, and ended up placing first. He is now officially the best welding apprentice in the United States and Canada.

Both brothers have their roots in the Grundy Area Vocational Center, GAVC.

“I spent a lot of long hours practicing and practicing, and I went into it with a positive attitude,” Pete LaRou said. “I owe it all to my teachers at GAVC  and at the (Local) 597. Their training is second to none. It proves that hard work pays off. If you work hard enough, you can do anything.”

Pete LaRou said he couldn’t have done it without GAVC’s welding instructor Jim Cebulski. In high school, Cebulski spent class time carefully teaching his students the ropes of welding, both as classroom knowledge and with projects. Then, preparing for the SkillsUSA state competition, LaRou said Cebulski spent many nights and weekends of his own time at GAVC, overseeing his students working hard for the competition.

“I owe it all to my teachers along the way,” LaRou said, “like Jim Cebulski who’s always been there for me.”

LaRou said he liked welding in the metals high school class he took, so he decided to enroll in GAVC his junior year. He found he loved just about every part of welding and began considering it for a future career.

His junior year, he took the test for the state competition of SkillsUSA and passed. So did several other GAVC students.

“There were a couple of us in class and we were always competing against other,” LaRou said. “We made it to state, and we thought it was cool that we could compete against the rest of the top-notch students in the state.”

His first year at state, he placed seventh. LaRou said that first year, he was just happy to be able to go. The next year, his senior year, he was ready to do more. And he did. He took first.

“I feel that if you’re going to do something, do it well,” he said.

LaRou took the top honors, and he remembers GAVC doing well in general that year in state. Tyler Johnson took second, and Sam Gimple took third.

“We wiped the board,” LaRou said.

Then, for him, it was on to the national competition. He was the first student to go to nationals since Cebulski had come to GAVC.

“I tried to prepare myself the best I could,” he said. “There was a lot of competition. All 50 state champions were there.”

LaRou said that he was not satisfied with the quality of his work at nationals, though.

“Nothing was going the way I wanted it to,” he said of the competition. “I ended up getting fifth. I was happy about that. It was a good experience for me, and it opened a lot of doors for me.”

In the spring of 2006, Pete LaRou made the difficult, competitive cut to become an apprentice at the Local 597 before he even graduated high school. That June, he began his training as an apprentice with the union.

This past summer, LaRou’s mentors at the union watched him rise through the United Association of Apprentices Contest competitions from local, to state, to district, up to the international competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

There, he competed against the four other top apprentice welders in the United States and the top one in Canada.

“I spent a lot of long hours practicing and practicing,” he said.

It was a 40-hour week of testing at the international competition.

“They just drill you,” he said. “I knew it was going to be intense. It was definitely above and beyond.”
In the end, LaRou took first place.

“It was my goal all along to make it to Ann Arbor,” LaRou said. “I was ecstatic just to get there. Getting first was unbelievable. It’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.”

His honor was the first time Local 597 had one of its apprentices take first place in the international competition.

“I think it’s fantastic. What an honor,” said Bill Enright, the lead welding instructor for the Local 597’s apprentices. “Pete’s a fine young man and a leader in welding and in overall apprenticeship. He’s going to make a fine, fine journeyman.”

Enright said it’s apprentices like LaRou, along with the 597’s business manager James Buchanan and apprentice coordinator John Leen, that make the union’s apprentice program one of the best in North America.

LaRou said he loves welding and is looking forward to completing his apprenticeship and becoming a journeyman. It’s the challenges and the continual learning he likes best about the trade.

“You never stop learning,” he said. “There’s always something new. And you are always learning how you can make the next one better and the little tricks that you know will make the job easier the next time.”

LaRou is currently working on building a hydrogen unit for a plant in Indiana. He still lives in Morris. He laughs when people talk about the LaRou brothers’ welding legacy in Morris and hopes his brother Brian will get taken on as an apprentice with the union.

“I couldn’t be happier for Brian,” he said of his brother’s successes in high school welding competitions. “His motivation and drive for excellence is unbelievable. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

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