For more than 20 years, Dorman Vick has dedicated his life to shaping students, building communities, and reviving America’s respect for the skilled trades. As the Lead Ag Mechanics Teacher for Boerne ISD and founder of one of the most nationally recognized high school welding programs in the country, Vick has turned sparks and steel into a movement.
Raised on the north side of San Antonio by a single mother and grandparents, Dorman learned early the value of faith, grit, and working with his hands. His grandfather’s front-end alignment shop became his classroom before he ever set foot in one. By 15, he was running his own small welding business out of his stepfather’s garage. That entrepreneurial spirit eventually led him to education, his true calling, where he found his purpose: building kids, not just projects.
Since 2005, Dorman’s students at Boerne and Samuel V. Champion High Schools have built everything from custom trailers and wildlife structures to government commissioned USDA projects, an honor no other high school program in the nation can claim. They have restored the late Governor Rick Perry’s father’s truck, built a custom gate for Martin Bros. Customs, designed fish habitats for Boerne Lake, and even appeared on Jesse James’ Outlaw TV and the show Carnivore. Their work has been recognized by national figures like Perry, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, Lt. Gen. Leroy Sisco, Jesse James, and Bill Goldberg.
In 2025, Vick’s students became the first in the world to receive Holt CAT Level 1 Welding Certifications while still in high school, a groundbreaking step toward closing America’s widening skills gap.
But for Dorman, the trophies, TV features, and accolades are just dust collectors. The real reward is watching young men and women discover their “why,” their purpose, and leave high school with the tools to succeed in life. His mantra is simple: “It’s all about the kids.”
Vick’s story is one of resilience, service, and calling. After nearly losing his life to COVID-19 in 2021, he returned to the classroom with even deeper resolve. Today, as a mentor, husband, and father, he continues to push for a national revival of vocational education, believing that America’s strength lies not in lecture halls but in the hands of its builders, makers, and problem solvers.
Through the Welding Student Support Foundation, through community projects across Kendall County, and through the national stage he now occupies, Dorman Vick is proving that vocational education is more than an option. It is America’s future.
