Ryan Marko stepped into the role of welding instructor at Centralia High School under difficult circumstances. His predecessor, longtime teacher Randy Mustread, had passed away, leaving behind a respected program and a need for leadership. Three years later, Marko has not only carried that legacy forward but expanded it, overseeing a program that now serves more than 100 students.

Marko came to CHS with 15 years in the boilermakers, a skilled trade that has taken him from Prairie State Energy Campus to major projects across southern Illinois. “I still work as a boilermaker in the summer, and sometimes on weekends,” he said. “We always need people.” His experience gave him not just technical knowledge, but a clear understanding of how trades education can change lives. “I instructed a lot of apprentices on the job,” he explained. “You can learn something in a classroom, but so much of it comes from hands-on training.”

That philosophy guides his teaching. Students enter through an introductory class, then move to Welding I, and seniors who stick with it advance into Welding II. Along the way, they gain experience in stick welding, MIG welding, and even a bit of TIG welding by their final year. “We updated everything when I got here,” Marko said. “New welding machines, automatic hoods—it makes the work safer and more effective.”

The numbers speak for themselves. Marko started with around 80 students. Now, he has closer to 115. “It’s gone up every year,” he said. Among them are six or seven young women, a number he hopes will continue to grow. “I work with women in the boilermakers all the time,” he said. “There’s no reason this can’t be a career for them too.”

Career is the keyword. Marko sees welding not just as a skill but as a gateway to meaningful, good-paying work. “On the union side, a starting apprentice is at about $37 an hour,” he said. “Journeymen are at $45. And that doesn’t even count the insurance, retirement, and other benefits that are part of the package.” Within four years—the length of a typical apprenticeship—young people can move from high school into jobs earning $60,000 to $90,000 a year, with plenty of opportunity for overtime. “If you want to work, there’s always something out there,” he said.

That message resonates in an economy hungry for skilled labor. Whether it’s natural gas, nuclear, or renewable projects, the energy industry alone will demand thousands of new welders in the coming decades. But the need extends far beyond energy. “All the trades need people—pipefitters, ironworkers, local shops, auto repair,” Marko said. “Everybody’s needing them.”

For students, the classroom is often their first taste of that demand. Some arrive with clear goals, already envisioning themselves in the trades. Others discover a new confidence simply by learning how to read blueprints, handle equipment, or complete projects they never imagined they could do. “It’s a lot more fun than math or English all day,” Marko said with a grin.

That spark matters. As a native of Carlyle, Marko remembers taking welding and auto shop classes in high school—opportunities many districts no longer provide. “Two years after I graduated, they lost those programs,” he said. “A lot of schools don’t have them at all now. If more schools did, we’d sew up the worker shortage a lot quicker.”

Centralia is filling that gap. And Marko knows the community plays a role as well. “There’s a lot of involvement,” he said. “Churches, sports, organizations—there’s always something for kids to do, always something new to be part of.” His own children, ages 9 and 13, aren’t at CHS yet, but they will be soon. “They think it’s cool now,” he joked. “By the time they get here, they might not think it’s so fun to have dad down the hall.”

For now, Marko is focused on building opportunities for students who walk into his shop each day. He knows what a steady career can mean for a family—and he knows the satisfaction of creating something with your own hands. In his classroom, sparks fly, arcs glow, and futures take shape.