In the last issue of GEARS, I talked to three students about their experience with the automotive industry and what ATRA can do to help them with a career. This time I wanted to get some information from the instructor and what he is doing to help get young adults into the industry. The auto shop instructor at Nordhoff High School is Fender Carnine. I’ve known Fender for the good part of 15 years. I recently interviewed three of his students, and I wanted to get some more information but this time, from the instructor’s point of view.
Lance: Fender, how long have you been the instructor at the high school, and what classes do you teach now?
Fender: I’m on my 23rd year teaching automotive here and my 10th year teaching welding. I teach Introduction to Automotive, Advanced- Intermediate Automotive, Introduction to Welding, and Advanced Welding.
Lance: In your auto shop classes, do you have any students that stand out? Do you have any students that have that curious look in their eye?
Fender: Yes, but it’s still early on; I have several students right now that have a high interest. I would say there are usually a few students per year that pursue it through high school and even into college. As far as a career, if they end up going to our Community College to further their education, there’s a good chance it’ll become their career. As far as knowing that for sure, right now, it’s still hard to say.
Lance: What’s the relationship with the local colleges?
Fender: It’s great. We have Ventura College and Oxnard College. We have at least two meetings a year with our advisory committee. It consists of instructors and shop owners.
Lance: Was that the meeting I missed last week?
Fender: No, some instructors couldn’t make the meeting, and then the auto shop instructor just forgot about it; I guess he didn’t get the memo.
Lance: Let’s talk a little more about your advisory committee. Do they help you with your curriculum, or is that something the state mandates?
Fender: There is a state standard. Now, to get there from here is a little different. For the last 10 or 12 years, my goal has been to focus on what students need to get to the next level, the end game. To picture college and what it has to offer, it’s been a huge help to talk to them and find out what textbooks they’re using and what their introduction class entails as far as what I need to get my students prepared for. We’re trying to coordinate more internships, and that’s what this advisory meeting was about. They are responsible for guiding me in the direction that I need to address the high school students and at the college level. They help me find out what is necessary for my students to progress. I normally have that meeting typically after the first of the year around February, March, or somewhere thereabout. Right now, I have two kinds of advisory committees that could merge, so we have just one meeting. Everybody gets the same picture as far as what’s happening right now and in the near future.
Lance: In your automotive classes, are they structured through the Regional Occupational Program (ROP)?
Fender: Yes, it is. My advanced-intermediate automotive class and my welding classes are. The introduction class is not. That goes through the school district.
Lance: You mentioned internships, I graduated in 1988, and I was in the ROP class, and it was a mandatory part of the curriculum to do the internship. How’s that been? Is it still available?
Fender: We’re getting ready t o start it up again. However, there are two dilemmas here in our small town of Ojai, CA. When you and I were in high school, as soon as everybody turned 16, everybody was working on their cars. Most students wait until they’re 18 years old. Some don’t want a license or don’t have a car. It’s hard to get kids in my classes that fit the internship criteria. There’s something else too, especially in our small community, there are only about four shops in our town, so this has been kind of a challenge for us. I try to find sites that are nearby that students go to, but it’s kind of been an uphill battle. This year we introduced internships with local businesses around here. We are offering the internship for about a month. It’s going to be 40 hours, and we’ll have an entire month to complete that, and their grade will be based on what the internship site supervisor says. There’s an app we use to check in the students off-site, so if the student didn’t show up on time and they’re not doing their work, then we remove them, kind of like getting fired.
Lance: The transmission and automotive industry are in dire need of these students. To go to an automotive shop right after you graduate, you have to have some experience. Even if it’s a little experience, as long as the interest is there. With shop owners or technicians, sometimes they do not want to help you, kind of like a “greenhorn” effect. Have you heard that from shops or technicians?
Fender: Yes, that is another battle that we face. Some businesses just don’t have the time to invest in somebody that knows very little or nothing at all. For the most part, a lot of people are open to having somebody come in whether it’s just watching what they’re doing or possibly helping them clean up after other mechanics. To be honest with you, there are more people willing to help. The ones that don’t, they don’t want to commit.
Lance: We have a program. It’s a virtual program for training. There are about 156 hours of training on transmissions along with general diagnostics and a general understanding of electronics, hybrids, batteries, operating systems, and stuff like that. Do you think that this generation of auto tech, these students, you think they prefer that type of training and then hands-on, or are they more kinesthetic? What are your thoughts?
Fender: Yes, they absolutely love getting their hands dirty. Learning through video is good, but these students love to take things apart. That brings up another dilemma. We don’t have the opportunity to have an engine or transmission for every two students. I use a lot of videos that will show the components, then what we’ll end up doing is learn about it in the classroom and then hopefully address it on our working days, which happen at the end of the week. It’s kind of a balancing act, so to speak, but for the most part, I’m still finding students learn way better hands-on than they would by reading it; learning through lecture, or anything like that. I try to incorporate it as much as I can, except for when you have a large class size over 20, it becomes very difficult to do that without running out of supplies.
Lance: We went to Glendale Community College in Phoenix, AZ, and they had warehouses full of vehicles from the dealers. They had a brand-new Corvette sitting in the showroom, enticing the students to come over here, come and look at this awesome car!
Fender: Ventura College will have a new batch of cars. I think it’s every three to four years, mostly Toyotas. They have the facility to do that. For us, it’s pretty simple. I have my guidelines. They are to teach students how to access the computer. Where does the plug go, how to gather, clear, read codes, and just kind of navigate through it. If they can do that, then we can take them to the next level.
Lance: What advice would you give me if I was looking to hire one of your students?
Fender: Make sure you focus on behind-the-scenes stuff, like punctuality, make sure they show up on time. How do they handle themselves? These are the little things that are really important. I think that’s one of the things dwindling in our industry. When you bring a car in, the technicians aren’t going to see the customer. Sometimes they don’t conduct themselves in the greatest manner. I think that’s super important and not only in life. I think those are important steps for somebody to start early, and that can keep them going in the right direction.
Lance: We just got finished going through classes in Las Vegas. One of the classes we took was called A Winning Business Culture: Your Competitive Advantage. The presenter was Maryann Croce. During the presentation, she stated, “You should always hire attitude over aptitude.”
Fender: Well said!
I’d like to thank Fender for taking his time to talk to me about his classes, and I look forward to supplying him with some transmissions to work on.
Fender brings up some very good points. Water it, and it will grow! Feed it, and it will be strong! Together we can make a difference in our industry by simply taking some brief moments in time to share your experience with a new employee, or “greenhorn.” A little goes a long way, and as we venture through our partnership with schools and get new technicians into the industry, it should be no coincidence that as we all grew up, we learned to walk before we could run.
