There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what was unusual: They weren\u2019t CRTC students, at least not yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m using it as a way to branch out and see what my options are,\u201d said Jackson Hall, a freshman at Bow High School, one of about three dozen ninth-graders who showed up, many with parents in tow. \u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in automotive-related things.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of education at CRTC, students have always visited or worked with businesses in fields from criminal justice to culinary arts. Thursday\u2019s interaction was the first to involve students who were thinking about applying to the program next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do this all the time. To do it before you enroll with us \u2013 that is a new area for us,\u201d said Steve Rothenberg, principal of the center.<\/p>\n
CRTC has almost 700 students drawn from nine\u00a0public 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past 10 years we\u2019ve grown about 35% while enrollment has gone down about 16% from all the schools we serve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That growth may reflect a change from college\u00a0as the automatic default path for all high schoolers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re now willing to find a little more focus in high school vs. my next stop is college,\u201d said Rothenberg. \u201cIt\u2019s targeted toward life-long learners and a diversity of careers. \u2026 Whether you\u2019re a surgeon or auto technician, they both require you to learn, learn, learn, keep learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s event at Grappone Ford \u2013 which ended with pizza, as all events involving teenagers should \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t planning their long-term careers, the appeal of cars and trucks remains.<\/p>\n
Gavin Pirosa, a Concord High ninth-grader, was among those who was intrigued.<\/p>\n
His mother, Misty, said that Pirosa\u2019s father, grandfather and uncles liked to work on cars. Gavin didn\u2019t mind getting a little more advice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s more teachers here, more people I can talk to, ask more questions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Whether it turns into a career is yet to be seen \u2013 \u201cMaybe for fixing my own (car) \u2013 maybe both,\u201d he said \u2013 but if nothing else the skill would be handy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took woodworking this past semester or\u00a0the semester before and he just really liked it. And then he heard about this program, and I think it\u2019s a fabulous opportunity to have insight into something that really interests him,\u201d\u00a0Misty Pirosa said. \u201cYou know, then he can work on my car!\u201d<\/p>\n
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