Have you ever wanted to design a car? At World of Wheels (WoW), a nationally-recognized car and cycle show, students can compete against other cars and their owners for a prizes. According to the World of Wheels purpose for Student Career Day goals, "the Student Career Day Program began in 2006 as a vehicle to support school automotive educational programs by exposing students to the wide range of opportunities in the industry through associated subject matter speakers and presentations, corporate support, and event participation." Our students were impressed with all they saw at WOW.
Although the students enjoyed preparing for the competition, LCCTC’s Collision Repair shop did not place, but they did learn a lot. A few of the shop students stated that they had tons of fun this year preparing their cart. The skills required of the project were an exciting challenge for them, and they are energized for next year’s competition.
Bailey Eaton, a first year student, stated “My favorite part was just seeing the car styles. Basically, everything was unique in its own way.” She then continued in an exciting tone, “I learned that you should always try your best. As long as you have a fun and new work experience, it’s all worth it. Seeing the competition for the first time already has me thinking of new ideas to pitch for next year!”
Second year student, Mike Sinibaldi, said “I learned so many new things. For example, I learned about the different cars there and how everything has its own background -- its own story, and I think that’s pretty cool.” He continued, “I talked to a few different people who did the sanding process a little differently than I learned, so it was fun AND educational. My biggest lesson had to be: ‘Trying my best gets me somewhere’.”
All in all, it sounds like World of Wheels was a great experience for the students. The Collision Repair students are excited to prepare for next year with their goals set: To come home with an award!
Mr. Banner was very proud to state “They did well; they learned from everything they see down here in my shop, and now they see what they can accomplish -- with a little bit of hard work and grit.” Mr. Banner is highly supportive of his students and also made sure the students are at their best.
“They even worked on the day of the competition while on the bus!” Mr. Banner continued, “That shows you how devoted they were to making a good impression at the competition.”
Mr Banner also gave some rather good advice to his students, “Listen to your teacher. In the end, I'm pretty sure every single one of them came back thinking, ‘There’s a lot I can learn from focusing even more on the skills taught here at LCCTC’.”
After visiting WoW, the kids are already showing more interest in their chosen career, and THIS will take them as far as the wish to go!
