Young female welding teachers at the high school level are few and far between. GHS alumna Cadance Rohrer is one of them. Rohrer joined the GHS staff this year. She graduated from Gretna in 2022 and has already made an impact.
“Obviously, Rohrer came from the workforce,” shop teacher Luke Brenn said. “She was a welding fabricator for three years, and I’ve been very impressed with her so far.”
Gretna High School, like many other schools, offers shop classes to all students interested in activities like welding, woodworking and mechanics. In recent years, those classes have been taught by Brenn and Brandon Thoene. Thoene took a new position at Ralston at the end of the last school year. Rohrer, now the first female welding teacher in the district, stepped right in.
Her welding journey started with some motivation from her father. Rohrer’s inspiration to begin welding came from him. He owned his own business called TH Construction Company, which Rohrer also worked for, before he passed away.
“(Welding) is something my dad kind of pushed me to do in eighth grade,” Rohrer said. “Then he passed away at the beginning of my freshman year, and he had already gotten me into it. It just came very naturally to me.”
Rohrer’s welding career took her to Metropolitan Community College after she completed the Career Academy program offered to high school students. While at Metro, Rohrer worked with a few other female welding students, but not many. Many of the female students dropped out, but Rohrer stayed.
“There was a couple (female welders) that I worked with in school, but they really kept to themselves,” Rohrer said. “They didn’t really enjoy the atmosphere that comes with welding, which I think can be quite fun and energetic. Some stuck around, but there was usually a couple that would drop out after the first couple days.”
Rohrer said she did not always want to become a teacher. She initially wanted to do welding as a full-time profession. She used to be a trailer fabricator and a trailer mechanic, meaning she used to assemble and repair the metal components of trailers. She wanted a change, though, and ultimately ended up at GHS.
“When (the teaching job) came up, I thought why not? It’s something to try,” Rohrer said. “I get along with kids. I’d like to teach welding.”
Rohrer was hired by the GPS before the 2025-2026 school year. The district had a few other applicants, but most of them chose to pursue other job openings. Rohrer was selected after touring the high school and interviewing for the position. Since she had attended Gretna High School only a few years ago, most of the staff are familiar with her.
“I’ve known Miss Rohrer for 21 years now,” Principal Theresa Huttmann said. “I thought she’d be a really great fit. She’s really passionate about her work and really excited. It was easy to find out that she had all of the certifications and she was interested in the position.”
Rohrer’s first year of teaching has only just begun, but she’s already leaving a lasting impact on her students. Despite teaching a predominantly male class, Rohrer has no trouble keeping the attention of her students.
“Most of my classes are pretty good,” Rohrer said. “The guys can get a little rowdy, but it is an elective class. Everyone who takes this class wants to learn welding.”
Alongside teaching and impacting the male welding students, Rohrer also supports the few female students in her class as they learn to weld for the first time. Many of her female students are new, so Rohrer does everything she can to help them become accustomed to welding and adapt their tools to suit their needs.
“She gives us help with a lot of the equipment and things since everything is extra large,” senior Kyler Wolff said. “She helps us find places to get good gloves for our hands and other tools that fit us.”
For her first year of teaching, Rohrer is eager to help her students develop and hone their welding skills. She’s also looking forward to building stronger relationships with her students and teaching them things that they have never learned before.
