MADDUX SHELBY-ICTC

Webbers Falls senior Maddux Shelby is a hyper-active kind of guy. He’s the quarterback on the football team and plays basketball, baseball and runs track for the Warriors. Off the field or court, he’s an officer in FCA, FFA, student council, National Honor Society and is at the top of class academically. And he also finishing the two-year Precision Machining program at Indian Capitol Technology Center in Muskogee. And while Maddux is hyper-active at all these things, he says the ICTC course has taught him another valuable trait.

“I’m a guy who likes to go fast at whatever I do but, in this class, I’ve had to learn the value of being patient because small details are so important in machining.”

To define exactly what Precision Machining is all about, think about all the small metal-on-metal parts that are in a car. Precision machining is learning how to make those parts that require being within a thousandth of an inch accurate.

David Acuff is a graduate of this program and has taught the program for the last five years at Indian Capitol after spending 36 years working in the industry.

“In here the students learn how to operate a manual lathe and drill and at the end they will take a test to get a NIMWS (National Institute of Metal Working Society) certification. With that they can go to work in the field and start off making $20-30 an hour,” said Acuff. “Once they learn how to operate those machines, their imagination is the only limit on what they want to make.”

Maddux started off in a drafting and design program but after that got cut, he turned to the Precision Machining program.

“I really like the hands-on approach of this class and how it takes your imagination to a whole new level. Right now, I’m working on making chain pendants for the football team using the CADD skills I learned last year along with what I’ve learned this year.”

It was pretty easy for Maddux to draw parallels between sports and precision machining, as he talked about the importance of discipline in both areas.

“I’ve developed the discipline to get up every school morning at 5AM to work out before school and then have the discipline to do the small things like stretch and lift weights that help make me successful in athletics. That discipline is also needed in this class to work hard and take time and have the patience to do the small things right to make the project successful.”

Maddux already has ideas of what he would like to do after high school.

“I’d really like to play football in college and maybe go into an engineering field. But with what I’ve learned in this class I know I could also be just as happy working in precision machining somewhere.”