In August, the Armijo Welding classes were taken over by Mr. Thomas Newman, a professional welder for 15 years. He recently decided to become a teacher “to pass on the trade of welding to the next generation of welders,” he said.

Mr. Newman graduated from Napa High School in 1995 and from Solano Community College in 2007 with an Associate of Arts (AA) in Theatre Arts and an Associate of Science (AS) degree as a Welding Technician. He uses the second degree in his free time as a custom item fabricator dealing with mostly replica movie props. “I also do charity work with Star Wars Costume Clubs, The 501st Legion, The Rebel Legion and the Mandalorian Mercs,” he said.

While he doesn’t have a lot of experience teaching, he does have some advice to future students: “If you are going to be a teacher, make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and that it is a subject you are passionate about,” he said..

For all students, though, he would encourage them to “go to class and learn what the teachers are trying to teach you. Put the phones down, look up at the world that is around you and engage with your fellow humans in the way you want to be treated. This way you all can band together to make this world a better place for all to live.” And he shared these strong ideas:

• Strength is life, for the strong have the right to rule.
• Honor is life, for with no honor one may as well be dead.
• Loyalty is life, for without one's family one has no purpose.
• Death is life, one should die as they have lived.

“This is the way.”

Mr. Newman is married with three kids, two dogs and two cats. “We all bond over pop culture and go to all types of pop culture conventions,” he said..