COCC’s automotive program fans out to high schoolers

Published 3:00 pm Friday, December 13, 2024

Central Oregon Community College wants to ensure that high schoolers know they have options in the trades by organizing automotive classes at four different locations in Central Oregon.

There is a shortage of skilled workers, said automotive program director Jared Green, and in the high-cost area that is Central Oregon, joining the trades practically guarantees a decent salary.

“Where most of those folks end up getting jobs at, and they are good paying jobs, is places like Knife River and Hooker Creek, Papé Rentals, because they just have a huge fleet of small gas engines, and generators and small pieces of equipment that need to be maintained,” said Green.

Mobile automotive classes

The four classes for high schoolers include small gas engines, mechanical systems, basic electricity and college success. Every 10 weeks, each course will rotate through high schoolers in the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, J Bar J Youth Services, the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council and Deer Ridge Correctional Institution. Classes at some locations have already begun, while others are still in the works.

“They run on 10 week cycles, and when they finish, we rotate the equipment to the next one of the four, and then 10 weeks later we rotate the equipment, and the tools, and the instructor, to the next set of four and it’s working out really well,” said Green. “A lot of those students have actually translated into coming to COCC to do our full automotive program.”

These automotive courses are all self-paced, and so the format made sense for high schools. At first, they were only offered on the Bend campus. COCC is the only community college for 100 miles in any direction, however, and distance made it difficult to make sure high schoolers from all over the area would be able to get involved, Green said.

“I said, hey, why don’t we get a second set of these classes, the exercises, the books, the tools, everything, put it in some kits and make it mobile?” Green said. “We piloted this, and it worked out really well. Only the instructor travels, most of the tools can fit in the back of a pickup truck, so we took those four classes and made a second set of them that are now rotating throughout the county.”

Partnerships for students

Green helped set up a partnership between the college, Jefferson County School District and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to organize automotive classes for high schoolers. Students from the high school on the reservation, Bridges High School and Madras High School join. The rotating four classes began around two years ago.

COCC ran classes for J Bar J Youth Services last year and is continuing to do so this year. Deer Ridge Correctional Institution is planning to begin classes in the summer. COIC will begin running classes in January.

“The beauty of it for the Deer Ridge folks is you don’t need to have a driver’s license to operate heavy equipment because it’s always on private property, you’re past really doesn’t matter that much because they need so many of these folks,” Green said. “I’m hoping it’ll create a really good opportunity.”

Classes are capped at 12 students. Most of the students in these programs are also in credit recovery, so instructors need to make sure every student is understanding all the concepts. Each location has a different schedule because organizing student schedules can be a challenge.

If students don’t want to sign up for the full college program, all they need is a welding class to have a basic automotive certificate.

The institutions are paying for tuition and books on their students’ behalf, though travel is paid for by the college, said Green.

“The knowledge, skills and habits that we produce are in demand by society,” he said. “That’s the long and short of it. Everybody needs their car fixed, everybody needs their plumbing done … Our goal is to give people the knowledge, the skills and the habits to succeed in those.”

The college success course has been completely revamped to discuss more life skills, professionalism and ways to get ahead in the day by, for example, having your lunch packed and an alarm set before you go to bed. Green said they discuss where students want to go with their lives.

“Our program is meant to take somebody who doesn’t know which end of the wrench to hold into being a full-fledged automotive technician working at a local dealership,” he said.

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