Tech Center tries to appeal to ninth-graders

There’s nothing unusual about students associated with the Concord Regional Tech Center crowding into automotive repair bays to look at some real-world applications, as happened Thursday night at Grappone Ford in Bow.

Here’s what was unusual: They weren’t CRTC students, at least not yet.

“I’m using it as a way to branch out and see what my options are,” said Jackson Hall, a freshman at Bow High School, one of about three dozen ninth-graders who showed up, many with parents in tow. “I’ve always been interested in automotive-related things.”

As part of education at CRTC, students have always visited or worked with businesses in fields from criminal justice to culinary arts. Thursday’s interaction was the first to involve students who were thinking about applying to the program next year.

“We do this all the time. To do it before you enroll with us – that is a new area for us,” said Steve Rothenberg, principal of the center.

CRTC has almost 700 students drawn from nine public and several private or parochial schools in the Capital Region. Rothenberg said the center expects to enroll as many as 10% more pupils next year and is adding teachers.

“In the past 10 years we’ve grown about 35% while enrollment has gone down about 16% from all the schools we serve,” he said.

That growth may reflect a change from college as the automatic default path for all high schoolers.

“They’re now willing to find a little more focus in high school vs. my next stop is college,” said Rothenberg. “It’s targeted toward life-long learners and a diversity of careers. … Whether you’re a surgeon or auto technician, they both require you to learn, learn, learn, keep learning.”

Thursday’s event at Grappone Ford – which ended with pizza, as all events involving teenagers should – saw hands-on displays of the many aspects of maintaining and repairing automobiles, trucks and vans, including electric vehicles. Students, almost all of them boys, went from table to table, hearing and seeing details about everything from the myriad of parts in modern vehicles ($1.4 million worth are kept in inventory here) to the mysteries of the truck bay, which was full of vans and light trucks.

For Grappone, which like everybody in the automotive sector needs a continued supply of trained mechanics, the appeal of the event was obvious: Try to get potential employees interested early. But even if many 14-year-olds aren’t planning their long-term careers, the appeal of cars and trucks remains.

Gavin Pirosa, a Concord High ninth-grader, was among those who was intrigued.

His mother, Misty, said that Pirosa’s father, grandfather and uncles liked to work on cars. Gavin didn’t mind getting a little more advice.

“There’s more teachers here, more people I can talk to, ask more questions,” he said.

Whether it turns into a career is yet to be seen – “Maybe for fixing my own (car) – maybe both,” he said – but if nothing else the skill would be handy.

“He took woodworking this past semester or the semester before and he just really liked it. And then he heard about this program, and I think it’s a fabulous opportunity to have insight into something that really interests him,” Misty Pirosa said. “You know, then he can work on my car!”