At their January 26, 2026, regular monthly meeting, the Collinsville Community Unit School District #10 Board of Education honored Collinsville Area Vocational Center (CAVC) students for a class project to design and construct a new pedestrian bridge at the Collinsville High School (CHS) campus.  

Welding instructor Adam Kress and a group of his welding students accepted the certificate of recognition which was signed by Board President Gary Peccola and Superintendent Dr. Mark B. Skertich.  

Planning for the project began last October as Kress’ Welding I and II classes started designing a metal pedestrian bridge to replace one that served the CHS campus for the last 20 years.  Kress (CHS Class of 2006) was very familiar with the project, because he had been a CAVC welding student at the time the first bridge was constructed.  

Mark Anderson was the welding teacher when Kress was a student. Last year when Anderson retired, Kress replaced him. 

“I want to thank him for being a great example of what a vocational teacher should be and for leaving a lasting impact on his former students,” said Kress.

Kress said the students learned how to design the bridge through blue printing. Then they learned about the materials and what it takes to make a structure last. Finally, they used their skills to measure and make sure all angles were correct, and about the different types of welding it takes to build. Fabrication of the bridge began in November.  

The bridge project is a collective project linking multiple CAVC programs.  In addition to the Welding I and II classes, the machining class made brackets for the lettering that will go on the bridge, and cut the metal for the project according to the blueprints. For the final step in the process, the bridge is being painted by the CAVC auto body class.  

Kress acknowledged machining instructor Cody Coffin and auto body instructor Jacob Leezy and their students for their important contributions to the bridge.  

“[CAVC Director] Joe McGinnis has been the leader of this project by allowing the teachers to come up with a collaboration where the trades can learn to work together, just like a real-world job site would be. His continued support for the teachers and students has really shown,” added Kress.

Once the new pedestrian bridge is painted and had final touch-ups, it will be set in place. 

Following is the list of CAVC Welding I and II students who were recognized for working on the project:
Devin Walker
Trever Staub
Luke Killian
Miguel Calixto
Morgan Darden
Morgan Heintz
William Huerta
Junior Huerta-Rodriguez
Myles Jones
Armando Ortega
Ayden Perez
Dalton Phegley
Jose Robles
Landon Rodawald
Rylee Staley
Benjamin Tillman
Lucas Zagorski
Anthony Bohn
Deandre Bradshaw
Christopher Carey
Landon Farris
Lukas Click
Cole Hearty
Edward Hunter
Caden Johnson
Malia Schaffer
Ty Starko
Andrew Garcia
Liam Murphy 

Students that graduated last semester that helped: 
Homerro Serrano 
Kevin Scott