Left to right - Instructors Rob Heimbuch and Greg Arrowood, guest speaker Mary Hutchinson, advisory committee members Mark McLaughlin, Lon Barkema, and Clear Lake hub instructor Jack Rohde.
It was beginning to feel a lot like spring until Old Man Winter issued a reality check! February 10, 2003, was "one of those days". Nonetheless, one hundred twenty-nine people braved the cold to attend the 11th Annual NIACC Automotive Careers Night. Attendees included students from 15 area high schools, along with instructors and parents, NIACC Tech Prep students, NIACC students from the Automotive Hub at Clear Lake, on-campus automotive program students, Automotive Advisory Committee members, representatives from industry, specialty vehicle owners, plus a host of NIACC personnel who had volunteered to assist with the event.
After everyone was seated in the Muse-Norris Conference Center, Industrial Division Chair, John Sjolinder, welcomed our guests and offered some relevant career information: according to an on-line occupational outlook report, there are ample employment opportunities for graduates from training programs such as the NATEF/ASE Master Certified Automotive Service Technology Program at NIACC. He explained the procedure for voluntary program certification and what those credentials mean to the program students and their future employers. In addition to being certified, John pointed out that the program had been selected as the state of Iowa winner for the Award of Excellence in 2001 and 2002.
Since educational costs are a factor in career selection, Michelle Petznick, Associate Financial Aid Director, assured the students that NIACC participates in all federal and state student aid programs. She briefed the students on forms, procedures, and application deadlines for grants, loans, work-study and scholarships. Michelle referred to the NIACC packet they had just received and noted that a copy of the financial aid booklet was included, and she also invited them to call her office if they had any questions. Automotive instructor, Greg Arrowood, continued with the same topic and expanded on several automotive-specific scholarships: Award of Excellence Scholarship (implemented through a $5000 award from ASE in 2001 when the program was selected as a national runner-up in the annual Award of Excellence competition), The Automotive Service Technology Scholarship (implemented through a fund drive in 1995 by the Automotive Advisory Committee), River City Street Rods Scholarship (three awarded annually), and The Melvin "Bud" Wilson Scholarship (memorial scholarship via donation to the NIACC Foundation). Greg noted that an application for the Iowa Automobile Dealers Foundation for Education Scholarship was included in the information packet and he also informed the group that the Foundation of the IAD had contributed funds for the career night supper.
After viewing a Tech Prep video featuring career options at NIACC, participants formed lines at the buffet table for pizza, beverage, brownies and ice cream, then returned to their tables to eat, visit, and enjoy some automotive entertainment on the twin projection screens.
Automotive instructor, Rob Heimbuch, introduced the guest speaker for the evening, Mary Hutchinson, of Leesburg, Virginia. Mary has been affiliated with ASE (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) and NATEF (National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation) for a number of years and currently serves as NATEF Executive Director.
For openers, Mary said that in anticipation of her Iowa trip she had visited a website on Friday to check out our weather conditions and learned that it was FIVE DEGREES BELOW ZERO. She warmed-up the audience immediately by sharing her initial reaction to that information, "I’m not going". Empathetic laughter ensued............
Mary revealed "the source" from which she had chosen the "words of wisdom" she wished to impart. She had gone right to "the source", ASE Master Certified technicians employed in the industry. ASE had surveyed the technicians and asked what advise they would offer someone who wished to pursue an automotive career. "Education, education, education", was the number one answer...including math, reading skills, study and computer skills, and of course, technical skills with special emphasis on electronics because of the sophisticated technology incorporated in today’s automobiles and because the industry is ever-changing. Good communication skills and people skills are also requirements. Personal attributes and character markers are valuable commodities: have a positive attitude, be a good role model, be honest, ethical, and professional. "To be a professional", Mary said, "implies a level of responsibility to provide the best service to your employers and customers".
More sound advise from the professionals: take every opportunity to learn. Mary stressed the importance of utilizing a systems approach (theory and operating principles) to learning, and to understand how the systems interact. And, last but not least, she noted the importance of validating technical expertise with ASE credentials. Surely sound advise and tall orders, but Mary reminded the students that "it’s not a job, it’s a career...where your skills are applicable everywhere, you’re always in demand, and you can earn a good living at all levels". It is a viable profession, in and of itself, but can also open other doors of opportunity. As examples, Mary chronicled the career paths of two highly successful individuals. She then pointed out the obvious to the automotive careers night audience: the automotive training program at NIACC offers an education and opportunity to learn.
In his opening comments, John Sjolinder had shared the information that 840,000 technicians were employed in the industry in the year 2000. In her closing comment to the group, Mary stated, "Every facet in our society moves; there are always jobs out there for people who keep it moving".
Following the informational yet motivational speakers, door prizes were distributed. Items had been donated by Carquest, Mason City Tires, MATCO, Snap-On, Permatex, Winnebago Motorsport Division, and Winnebago Industries and, as usual, they were awarded by luck-of-the-draw from student registration cards. Jack Rohde, automotive instructor at the Clear Lake Hub, assisted John and Rob with the task at hand. However, since there were so many door prizes to distribute this year, Greg and Mary pitched-in as well. The crowd cheered when it was announced that all registration cards would be put back into the box for a second round of drawings. As the drawing continued, NIACC personnel escorted small groups to the automotive laboratory. Soon the conference center was empty; the automotive laboratory was full.
Students and their instructors from area schools had the opportunity to have a class picture taken with the photo car for the event, Ken and Darlene Peterson’s 2002 Thunderbird convertible. Guests were presented with a NIACC Automotive Technology t-shirt and invited to test their spark plug changing skills in a contest dubbed "Wrench Race". (Wrench, in this instance, refers to the student/technician, NOT the hand tool used for the procedure.) Freshman automotive students timed the contestants with stop watches. Of course, it was all in good fun, but two guests were awarded tune-up kits from Tom Hovland’s Mason City NAPA Store for their effort.
And, as has been the tradition, specialty vehicles were on display and their owners were more than willing to share their knowledge and expertise with interested students. Program graduate and area technician, Adam Beller, had his ‘93 Honda Civic, with just the right stance and a built-in student draw: an audio/video sound system. It would be easy to mistake it for a rally racer, but Adam enters his car in sound system competitions. Mike Dirksen, car enthusiast and an instructor in the business division, had his super-white, super-sharp, SuperSport (‘69 Chevelle) on display. Always a crowd pleaser, Blue Bandit, a super-comp dragster owned and raced by Clarence and Denise Mayo, dominated one corner of the laboratory. Another exceptional race car was also drawing attention, drag racers, Steve and Dawn Haacke, had brought their Plymouth Valiant, "Teacher’s Pet", to the event. A 1930 Street Rod owned by John and Martha Legler, exemplified the best of both worlds...technology incorporated in a classic "Body by Fisher". Suffice it to say, that each vehicle was an interesting "conversation piece" for the 11th Annual NIACC Automotive Careers Night!
And.........for at least a couple of hours on a bitter Monday night, Old Man Winter was left out in the cold!
Greg Arrowood: (641) 422-4243 or 1-888-GO NIACC, ext. 4243
E-mail arrowgre@niacc.edu
Rob Heimbuch: (641) 422-4155 or 1-888-GO NIACC, ext. 4155
E-mail heimbrob@niacc.edu
Jack Rohde: (641)
357-1690 or 1-888-GO-NIACC, ext. 4263
E-mail rohdejac@niacc.edu
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