Hypertherm awards Powermax45 XP to 12 North American schools as part of its Spark Something Great educational grant program

2022 - Hypertherm, a U.S. based manufacturer of industrial cutting systems and software is excited to announce the recipients of its 2022 Spark Something Great educational grant. 12 programs were selected from a pool of 110 applications, representing public schools, vocational schools, and colleges from throughout the United States and Canada. This year’s recipients are:

• Bluejacket Public Schools – Bluejacket, OK
• Cayuga High School – Tennessee Colony, TX
• DRIVE One TechCenter – Roseville, MI
• Minico High School – Rupert, ID
• Mount Sentinel Secondary School – South Slocan, BC
• Normal West High School – Normal, IL
• O'Rourke Middle School – Burnt Hills, NY
• Rothsay Public School – Rothsay, MN
• Southeast Region Career and Technology Center – Wahpeton, ND
• Sudan Independent School District – Sudan, TX
• Tupelo Public Schools – Tupelo, OK
• Winona Senior High School – Winona, MN

Now in its eighth year, the Spark Something Great grant program is designed to support the next generation of metalworkers by ensuring students train on the equipment found in workplaces. Each of the 12 schools will receive a Hypertherm Powermax45^® XP plasma system and in-person training from a Hypertherm industrial cutting expert.

“We continue to see strong interest in our grant program as schools grapple with limited budgets and increasing enrollment,” said Betsy Van Duyne, who manages Hypertherm’s educational program. “Many of the schools we received applications from are trying to teach 100, 200, and even 300 students with a single—and often very old—plasma cutter. Many schools have no plasma at all. Although we cannot award a plasma system to every deserving school, we are grateful for the opportunity to give more students an opportunity to cut, gouge, and mark metal with a Powermax45 XP.”

In addition to its annual grant program, Hypertherm provides educational discounts to schools and students, and offers educators its “Plasma Cutting Technology: Theory and Practice” curriculum as a free download. To date, thousands of teachers have acquired the lesson plans helping standardize the teaching of plasma cutting to students in North America and beyond. Hypertherm also offers ProNest^® for Education, a free program that places ProNest CAD/CAM nesting software in schools using CNC applications.