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Greenville High School
How Did Greenville
High School’s Auto-Tech Program Become a Crown Jewel
By Carl Brown, Assistant Principal
What makes the Automobile Technology program of Greenville High School
to be one of national recognition? Certainly eight National
Championships in the Skills USA Competition (2001-2003 & 2005-2009)
draws a special light on the program. It goes without
saying that over the years the program has attracted developed and
produced some special young talent from the student body of the high
school. So what draws the proverbial fly to the ointment?
It is a story of passionate instructors, thoughtful business and
industry leadership, and Career Technology administration on the State
and Federal levels.
Minimum standards and certification of education and educators are set
on the State level and Federal level and in the case of Career
Technical programs (formerly known as vocational education) the major
funds for such programs/curriculum comes from Federal monies.
Every Auto-Tech program in Ohio meets these standards. The really
nifty things that happen with Career Technical education is the way it
was designed from the very start of its existence to be in step and
meeting the demands of industry and business, with emphasis driven by
the local needs of the school’s community. Greenville should be
very proud of the working relationship it has fostered among the
automobile related businesses and industry and the Auto Technology
program at GHS. The Working Advisory Council of local
dealerships, automobile and business industries, parts stores,
individual service centers, manufacturing (GM, Ford, Honda, etc…)
representatives and post-secondary education has served the
program well in telling us what their respective needs are and how we
can help the program meet these needs. There are no “rubber
stamp” meetings here. The passion of the local business and
industry leaders, along with the passion of Jim Anderson, instructor of
32 years, has helped make this a true working relationship that is
unique in its authenticity.
Another item that sets our program a notch higher is the certification
of its instructors and the real world experience of these
teachers. Anderson and Travis Nicholas both are Automotive
Service Excellence (ASE) Mater Certified Technicians. Nicholas
brings 16+ years of automobile mechanic experience and Anderson, nine
years. Their knowledge and gift of sharing it with students is no
accident and reveals their commitment to maintaining standards of
excellence and expectation of their students.
In 1989, Greenville pioneered accreditation of National Automotive
Technicians Education Foundation or NATEF in the state of Ohio.
NATEF is the educational arm of ASE that assures high schools and
post-secondary institutions meet the industry needs. Greenville
continues this five-year accreditation process, though the State of
Ohio has changed their ‘ requirement’ to a ‘recommendation.’
NATEF has a strong reputation of setting standards for textbooks,
curriculum resources, facilities, personnel, tooling, equipment, and
continuing education for instructors, in keeping current with the
fast-paced technology of today’s automotive industry.
Anderson has been intimately involved in this organization for six
years serving on the board of trustees. The last two years
serving as Vice Chairman, where he helped spearhead the Integrating
Academics Manual to be used by all high school career technology
automotive programs in the nation. This manual cross references
automotive standards to the requirements of Common Core (English and
mathematics) and Next Generation Science standards to complete the
curriculum.
In 1998, Greenville’s Automotive Technology program initiated its
involvement with Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES).
This student organization is guided by the Automotive Instructional
Roundtable. This is the equivalent to Future Farmers of America
for agricultural education. This organization helps develop
leadership in students and is directly responsive to automobile
manufacturers’ demands. Again, Anderson has ground floor
knowledge and experience, having been member of the board for eight
years and serving as Chairman for two years.
All of these accreditations, certifications, and affiliations
demonstrate that building and maintaining responsive relationships with
business and industry are what truly make the difference. The
value of these relationships, are exemplified in the instruction and
everyday workings and is instilled in the instruction to our
students. The automotive technology program and its industry
partners are proud to serve one another and are proud to say they’ve
done it right.
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