TCA welding student wins districts with near-perfect score: ‘She’s a rock star’

The Career Academy (TCA) encourages students to “test drive” their future. The Lincoln Public Schools focus program offers 16 different career pathways, with the flexibility to switch pathways if the first “test drive” doesn’t go as expected.

Leilani Bell, a 12th-grader at TCA, first started on the health science pathway her junior year. But it wasn’t the right fit. She met with TCA Director Josh Jones and talked about other pathway options. They finally landed on the welding pathway.

Ever since then it’s been full speed ahead.

“I like the work, I like the challenge it provides me,” said Bell, whose home school is Lincoln High. “I can be stuck on a weld for up to two weeks but I’m still having fun because I’m like, Oh, I’ll get it eventually.” 

Bell recently placed first in the district-level Future Farmers of America welding competition and will advance to state in April. She scored 198 out of 200 in the competition, which includes written and welding portions. She missed one question on the written test - which still makes her mad - and aced the welding test with a perfect score.

“That’s never been done before,” said her TCA instructor, Mike Yueill, about the written exam.  “I’ve never seen it that high before…She’s a rock star. I knew she was going to be the rock star of the group but I didn’t expect that.”

Bell was part of a team of four TCA welding students who competed at FFA districts. Three of the four won their individual competitions and the team beat 49 others to win the overall title. She said she loves the feeling of community at TCA, noting that she and her classmates are “best friends” and that Yueill is a “super cool” teacher.

Bell plans on pursuing a career in welding, a field she and Yueill said only includes about 2 percent women.

“She said she’s after my job someday so hopefully she gets it,” Yueill said. “She has no problem with public speaking, she has the knowledge for it and she has the skill for it.”

“I never expected this pathway,” Bell said, “but I love it.”

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