Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
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2 A ll noticeable change is born from initiative. Ideas can come to anyone, but turning dreams into reality takes action and dedication. It requires a willingness to accept a challenge, hard as it may be, and determine the reward is worth the risk and heartache. In central California, a brave group of educators and business leaders are doing just that. And they're doing it with the aftermarket in mind. Beginning in 2018, Fresno, Calif., will be ground zero to one of the larg- est, most advanced and professional medium- and heavy-duty diesel tech- nician training programs in North America. The region will tout a network of high school and collegiate institutions with accredited and ASE certifi ed student training programs, developed specifi cally to aid a large local student population interested in technical careers and the local businesses eager to hire them. Overwhelmingly supported by area educational administrators and business owners, developers of this pioneering educational ecosystem believe they've created a blueprint that can be replicated nationwide. In talking with many of them at Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) last month, I can't help but agree. The aftermarket has spent years try- ing to determine the best way to recruit youth into this industry, and I believe the people in California have discovered it. Technical programs don't just fi ll the aftermarket's employee shortage, they also offer the potential of a steady, well-paying career to students who otherwise might not know such opportunities exist. In Central California, where poverty rates are high and a substantial portion of high school students do not attend college, technical education is an escape. It gives students a path to a future worth fi ghting for. That's what hooked the administra- tion in Madera, Calif., says Sheryl Sisil, director of College and Career Readiness for Madera Unifi ed School District. "For us it was really about business and employer partners saying there was a need," she says. "In our area we try to be as connected and involved with industry as we can. We kept hearing about this need, and these career opportunities, and decided it was something we needed to pursue." "We could tell it was an area where we could expand," adds Nick Deftereos, mechanized agriculture instructor at nearby Reedley College. "It was clear if we enhanced what we were doing there would be a lot of benefi ts." Both school's administrators were equally moved by the opportunity, and within months, Reedley College, Madera Unifi ed and the surrounding school districts in Fresno and Clovis, Calif., all began development on commercial vehicle tech training programs. Supported by local aftermarket busi- nesses, the schools are striving to build comprehensive programs that will pro- vide students the best possible training to step out of school and directly into local service bays, says Mike Betts, chairman and CEO at Betts Company. This includes offering internship programs with local service providers, ensuring each program is National Auto- motive Technicians Education Founda- tion (NATEF) accredited, and allowing students to receive ASE certifi cation credits on specifi c vehicle systems that remain valid from the high school level through college and into the workforce. "We've had 100 percent buy in from school offi cials," Betts says. "Everyone has been collaborating to make the programs work." And that excitement and cooperation has not gone unnoticed. Each school has hundreds of kids eager to jump into its fi rst classes, and even some state offi cials have headed to the Central Valley to see the education revolution fi rst hand. "We had the California Superinten- dent of Education come down and visit our facility because of what he's hearing about our program and our model," says Jason Mullikin, automotive technology coordinator at Clovis High School. "So people are seeing how important what we're doing is [for our community]." T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 6 California's education revolution By Lucas Deal, Editor lucasdeal@randallreilly.com Editorial | Lucas Deal Technical education gives students a path to a future worth fi ghting for.