SoCal shop class shows there is plenty of hope for old car hobby

[lschuc]

A similar feature story on this LA area school's shop class, sponsored by the Collector's Foundation, is in the current issue of Avanti Magazine.

Shop teacher Robert Roach, who is also an SDC member, is introducing Studebakers and auto repair and restoration to a new generation of students.

http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/news/editors-picks/socal-shop-class-shows-plenty-hope-car-hobby

[Chris Pile]

Good stuff.

[StudeRich]

Carson High School, CA Auto Shop

And here is the "reading between the lines" real story the Old Cars Weekly Article does not say.

Wow, Instructor Robert Roach a SDC Member even has SDC Member and a Orange County, CA Studebaker Parts and Service Garage owner; Jason Thomas signed up as a 2 Day a week assistant!
Way Cool! And it looks like they are getting several Stude. projects done, while training High School Students to work on Classic Cars and Trucks (Studebakers). A real win, win!

I don't recall there being a Head Bolt between the Spark Plugs on a Champion Six! Also the Coil is upside down! Oh well, they will learn.

[TDC71]

It's great to see a younger generation getting into cars. As a hobby or a profession it's nice to see. I was in auto shop in '86 and '87. It is now gone from my old High School and many others across the U.S. These stupid schools pull the funding for them and let em die. I went to Wyo-Tech in '94 after a stint in the Navy. Cost me 12 grand for the auto class and applied service management. In '08 I taught at Wyo-tech for a year....... those kids were taking out loans with a minimum of 25 grand just for the basic auto class program which is 6 months long. I now realize how lucky I was to take auto shop for free and only pay a small fee to go to a good trade school. Thanks to all that and some good master tech teachers I now have my own repair shop an get to be my own boss. Life is good. Great wife n kids, and a classic Studebaker in my garage..........
I'm very happy now. Couldn't have said that 10 yrs ago.

[PackardV8]

My local community college just shut down their Automotive Machinist course. The machines sold really cheaply. I could have outfitted a complete machine shop for less than $100K. If I were younger, I'd have bought everything. Of course, when I was younger, I didn't have the $100K.

jack vines

[benaslopoke]

Our school did not offer a shop class.. The many things I never learned that are so common.. From how to sharpen drill bits to learning how to weld.. Many lost skills that I never had the opportunity to pick up.. Now just when I can use them I don't got em..

[mmagic]

Back for 50th high school reunion we took a tour of the high school... we were the first class to graduate from the facility. The Principal bragged about how he had converted the once excellent shop area to a large pottery studio! He was un-plussed when I asked in front of the group what the incremental market value of pottery skills were over auto mechanics and wood working.

[Corvanti]

Back for 50th high school reunion we took a tour of the high school... we were the first class to graduate from the facility. The Principal bragged about how he had converted the once excellent shop area to a large pottery studio! He was un-plussed when I asked in front of the group what the incremental market value of pottery skills were over auto mechanics and wood working.

so sad! did the Principal end the speech with a group singing of "Kumbaya"??? i won't start about the $$$ once spent on the students going to the bloated population of district administrators!!!

[wittsend]

The way these trade schools advertise you would think people are waiting in long lines to get their motorcycles and hot rods repaired. Instead, a fair amount of these students get out of the schools severely in debt, working at a job they could have had without the schooling. So, I don't know whether to be happy for these kids in the posted story who are learning a trade, or feel sad for them that their skills may not have a corresponding job once they leave high school. Perhaps the greatest benefit is that they will be self sufficient to offset cost that their income doesn't provide for.

I know I sound down to an "up beat" story. But I teach television production at the community college level. We went for a unique professional program in the 60's-80's, to trying to convince kids in the 90's-00's that their parents home equipment wasn't "professional." Today every kid who has an "I" phone and a computer (to edit) thinks he is a video professional. And the time honored, industry standard procedures we taught mean nothing. Too many students only interest is to hang 15 seconds of fame on You Tube, and then sit back and wait to be discovered (not).

Sadder still we just had an industry related discussion panel moderated by the college district Chancellor. The end result was these "professionals" struggled to paint our training as positive. Why? Because the industry is so over-saturated. You either get in (still starting at the bottom) because you know someone or you "back door" your way in. And by back door I mean the skills we train are irrelevant. The jobs we train for are usually not attained until someone has been doing menial tasks for 5-10 years "paying their dues." As one of the panel members said, " I spent 3 years making food plates for producers meeting - and I got very good at it." In essence he was saying he would have been better off going to culinary school and not film school.

So, I think it is great that this instructor is running a program teaching these kids these skills. But I have concern that the best of them might end up sweeping floors at Pep Boys hoping to some day move up to brake jobs rather than performing the craftsman skills they are learning. WWII didn't just end and the 50's have passed. The job market is very different today.

[TDC71]

If any of these young kids has talent and drive he or she can be a mechanic. I started wrenching when I was 13 with my dad. By 16 I was tuning motorcycles at a Honda dealer. 1990 came and I enlisted because I saw us heading to war. I got to be a AMH repairing the hydraulics on the old F-14b+ Tomcats. All I ever wanted to do was fix stuff. It gave me great satisfaction and still does. Sorry for the long winded story but I just wanted to say if you really want something in life you go after it with all you have. Except chics cause thats called "stocking"

[52 Ragtop]

wittsend,
You hit the nail right on the head! They DO end up with a large debt! The really sad part is these "recruiters" tell these kids that as soon as they graduate, they will make 75K PLUS in the Collision repair industry. Well, I have hired a few of these kids, and they are pretty lucky if they understand which side of the sand paper to use! Much less understand the theory behind proper repair procedures. And why things need to be done in a specific way.
I had 3 at one time, one had dropped out of school, he turned out to be probably the best one because he was not brainwashed by the instructors! The 2nd one quit to go work at a shop closer to home, but a much smaller shop, the 3rd one I ended up having to cut him loose as he could not get to work on time, and was spending most of the day on his cell phone.
I'd take a kid off the street that WANTS to learn the trade over a graduate from (insert name here) school!

Jim

[Pat Dilling]

Our Chapter is involved with two different high school vocational programs. Members have donated both cars and tools as neither of the programs are well funded. We also fund a couple small scholarships for automotive trades. I agree with TDC71, if someone wants to do something and is willing to make effort and sacrifices they can do it, I think any program you chose needs to include a dose of reality. Part of the challenge is, young people may not have discovered what they really want to do in life. Kids need to understand they will need to start doing simpler and sometimes boring tasks as they develop their own confidence and that of their employer. And employers owe it to new hires to lay out their honest expectations. I believe a lot of new employees who fail do so because their employer has not given them boundaries and told them what is expected. You cannot assume people know what to do, even if they have completed a course of study. I also am a firm believer that tour in the military goes a long way towards preparing someone for life ahead.

[EssexExport]

A nice article.

[StudeDave57]

1990 came and I enlisted because I saw us heading to war. I got to be a AMH repairing the hydraulics on the old F-14b+ Tomcats.

Sweet~ another Navy Vet!!!
And one with taste- he's got a '58 Studebaker!!!
(sorry 'bout your tour with the Turkeys though)

I retired in 2008 after 20 years.
I was an AMS before they merged us with the AMHs.
I was mostly a helo guy, but managed to do a tour with Intruders.

I look forward to swapping 'war stories' with you at a StudeMeet someday...




StudeDave '57

[hausdok]

Fortunately, some states have systems in place that can teach hands-on skills to students.

Back in 1967 the State of New York set up the BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) program. Students would spend half a day at their regular high school and half a day at a BOCES facility learning various skills such as ag-mechanics, auto body, auto mechanics, cosmetology, nursing assistance, etc..

I was in the first Dutchess County class held in the basement of an old office building in Poughkeepsie. We students literally unpacked the equipment and set up that shop under the direction of a Mr. Vincent Skura. When I left that course two years later I was as capable as any line mechanic; my only impediment was my age. That was before the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence was established and before they had a nationwide system of testing. It didn't matter that I had a diploma showing I'd had two years of training as a mechanic, dealers in those days would never trust an engine, transmission, rear end, suspension to an 18-year old fresh out of school, I still had to start in the new car/used car prep bay and work my way out one little nibble at a time. I imagine that today with the national testing it would be far easier for young folks to prove they have the skills and move into the more technical aspects earlier than those days.

The Dutchess BOCES program still exists - as do BOCES programs all over New York State. I think it's a good model that other states could follow.

http://www.dcboces.org/CTI/automechanics