Former Gov. Rick Perry made a special appearance in Boerne Tuesday, visiting Boerne ISD’s vocational education program, specifically its welding shop run by instructor Dorman Vick.
Perry was under the impression he would be viewing the unveiling of a separate project, an iron gate created by Vick’s aspiring welding students at Champion High School. The iron gate was initially for Martin Bros Customs, who were unable to attend the event.
The day, however, turned out to be much more sentimental than Perry anticipated.
Vick and his students surprised Perry with their completed restoration of his late father’s 1992 Chevrolet pickup truck, a project in the making since March 2023.
“I was busted, in a beautiful way,” Perry laughed, after spending about 5 minutes inspecting, touching and then starting the truck. “I had no idea this is what I was going to be looking at when I got it back.”
Vick, in his 20th year of instructing Boerne students in the vocational education realm, tied it all together for the hundreds in attendance at Tuesday’s event at Champion.
“It all started in 2016 thanks to (retired) Lt. Leroy Sisco. He wrapped his arms around this program and our students,” Vick said. “He moved mountains for them (the students).
“Him and Gov. Perry, they’re not friends, they’re like brothers. He’s changed a lot of kids’ lives in a positive way,” Vick added.
The truck presentation was followed by a brief ceremony explaining the importance of vocational education, detailing the restoration process and honoring those who donated to the project.
“In this program every kid contributes,” Vick said. “From the ‘intro’ kids to the juniors (and) seniors, everyone takes part in the projects we build.”
When asked to summarize the amount of work put into the truck restoration, Vick was caught at a rare loss for words.
“Way over a thousand hours, way over a thousand hours went into this,” he said. “I mean, it was just hundreds and hundreds of hours’ worth of sacrifice and hard work.”
Emotions got the best of Perry when he walked to the back of the truck and reached out a finger to touch the signature of his late father. The signature was welded into the framework of the bed.
“I was hoping I wasn’t going to have to give a speech, because I couldn’t,” Perry said, taking a moment to compose himself.
“I was thinking about my dad. He would be the most ecstatic person here, to see this,” he said. “I don’t think it even looked that good when he bought it new. And the gauges all work!”
The former governor was a vocational student himself during his high school years. Many of Vick’s students knew this and sang praise to the longest-serving governor of Texas, accrediting his successes to the skills needed in the trades.
Jovanna Owen and Eli Christian were among the students who dedicated hours of hard work to the project.
“I’m ecstatic. I love that he (Perry) is coming here. He knows all of us and trusts us, it means a lot,” Owen said, with a proud smile.
“We are wanting more women to come and try stuff like this because it’s a really amazing thing that not a lot of people do,” said Owen, one of the few female welders to come out of the program.
“I know that a lot of girls would actually enjoy this and the whole art aspect of it,” she added.
Christian, a 2024 Champion graduate, returned to give a speech and express his gratitude toward the former Texas governor.
“To be a part of this project, it’s pretty special,” said Christian. “The governor entrusted a high school welding shop to take one of his most prized positions.”
“Through Gov. Perry, we hope that this project can be seen all over America because not every student has the ability to come into a welding shop and learn how to weld,” the Champion graduate said from behind his sunglasses.
“The trades are very special, and we need people working in them all the time,” he said, adding, “If they (the trades) can be taught in high schools that means more people are going into the trades instead of going into college.”
Before closing out the ceremony, both Owen and Christian gave speeches expressing their gratitude toward the former governor, their instructor and the rest of the Boerne community.
“I was thinking about my dad.
He would be the most ecstatic person here, to see this.”
— Former Gov. Rick Perry Upon receiving father’s restored pickup
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