Sparks of Inspiration: Welding with Our Modern Rosies

Written By Beth White

This summer, sparks flew—literally—as we hosted a sculptural welding course at Habitat for Aviation, led by the wildly talented metal artist Louisa Ulrich. Our crew of makers—Axley, Bryn, Chenzy, Sammie, and Beth—suited up, struck arcs, and turned scrap steel into art and useful objects. Over the course of the class, members of the group created a working mailbox, a helicopter, a vase full of nuts-and-bolt flowers, a robot, and a whole menagerie of inventive treasures. For everyone, it was their first time under a welding hood; by the end, they were confidently designing pieces that reflected their personalities and growing skills.

Axley, who designed and welded a dragon sculpture, later entered her work in the Champlain Valley Fair where it earned a third-place yellow ribbon. “It’s a lot of fun,” she shared. “I know it’s dangerous, but it’s also fun to go to school and say, ‘Hey guys, I welded over the weekend!’ It’s helping me learn skills that most other girls don’t get to do at my age. And I need this skill to build on the airplane.”

For Axley, the class was also about time with friends—“I got to hang out with Chenzy and Sammie for hours on end”—and seeing her work celebrated publicly was a huge boost. Welding at Habitat for Aviation isn’t just about metal; it’s about giving young people real tools, real techniques, and real confidence they’ll carry into the hangar and far beyond.

We also loved watching what happened after class. When Sammie brought her welded treasures to school, her classmates immediately started placing “orders” for custom pieces. Suddenly she wasn’t just a student welder—she was an artist with a waitlist. With a little help from Hangar Dad Baxter (and access to his shop and welder), Sammie has been turning those requests into tiny metal houses, detailed scenes, and joyful sculptures that carry her signature style. Between Axley’s award-winning dragon and Sammie’s growing “business,” this welding course didn’t just teach technical skills; it sparked inspiration.

Beth White

Education Possibilitarian, Artist, Writer, Doula, Mentor, Aviatrix, Breast Cancer Survivor, Pilot-in-Command at Habitat for Aviation


In the spring of 2022, Beth White emerged from a 10-month battle with breast cancer with an idea: to create an apprenticeship program at Franklin County State Airport where youth work alongside adult mentors servicing conventional and electric aircraft. A pilot and airplane mechanic apprentice herself, and with family roots in the trades, Habitat for Aviation provides an taxilane for world learning opportunities for youth and adults who love to work with their hands to enter the FAA’s apprenticeship certification track. Each day she puts systems in place that make real John Dewey’s philosophy that we “learn best what we live” – a deep throughline from her time at Antioch University New England and as Regional Director for Big Picture Learning. Each learning experience is grounded in relationships, relevance, and practice. In October, 2023, Habitat for Aviation launched its Women Build Planes program, where an all-female team of Modern Day Rosies is building an airplane at Franklin County Airport, in northwestern Vermont, to show folks everywhere that despite the fact that only 2.6% of airplane mechanics are female, women BUILD, FLY, and FIX airplanes.

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