Fast Track to Success!

Kunle Igbonegun (left) and Marcel James are seniors at Mt. Healthy High School and will graduate upon completion of the Computer Techno-logy program at Scarlet Oaks. Photo by Jo Kovach

"The fact is that you can no longer diagnose a car's problem simply by pulling the car under a shade tree, listening to the engine and tinkering," said General Motors Chairman John F. Smith in a keynote address at the Automotive Youth Education Systems (AYES) seminar in Washington, D.C., last March. "Tinkering won't fix a sensor that leads to a processor. If you walk into a good modern service bay, the chances are that the technician's eyes will be on the computer screen, not the car."

"A typical car has 28 functioning computers, more computing power than the original Apollo spacecraft," said Dr. Harold L. Carr, president and chief executive officer for Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development.

"Today's automotive technicians no longer work on a car by taking its parts on and off; they must analyze the customer's problem," Carr said. "You can't talk someone through the steps of analyzing a problem; these critical-thinking skills come with practice. Building critical-thinking skills is one of the most important areas of the AYES program's school and business partnership."

"An automobile on four wheels is a wonderful personal transportation device, but flipped on its side, it is really an advanced physics laboratory," said Stan Moore, director of AYES for General Motors and CEO of AYES, Inc. "That is why, in addition to increasing their technical skills, AYES is also increasing the academic skills of young people entering this challenging career."

AYES addresses what has become a growing challenge among American automotive dealerships: the availability of qualified service technicians is not adequate to meet the demand.

Established in 1995, the organization was formerly known as General Motors Youth Educational Systems. The AYES name was created in February to reflect GM's expansion to include other automotive manufacturers in a non-competitive, industrywide effort. GM and Chrysler are partners in the initiative.

AYES creates partnerships between local dealerships and secondary schools and vocational technical schools that offer high-quality automotive programs. The students who are selected to participate take automotive technology classes while they pursue their high school degrees and work as interns at participating dealerships.

This year, the Live Oaks campus of Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development, Milford, Ohio, became the nation's thirteenth AYES program school-based site. Great Oaks partners with local GM and Chrysler dealerships and automotive parts supplier Snap-On Tools in Sharonville, Ohio, to offer the program to high school juniors and seniors.

"The AYES program is a true example of a business-school partnership," said Carr. "It starts at the corporate level and is diffused throughout the dealerships."

Classroom instructors and mentors at the work-based-learning dealerships must be current certified technicians. "Theory taught in school correlates with job assignments at the dealership," Carr said. "Mentors and teachers work together to ensure that students see the purpose in academic and technical areas, and understand that there is meaning to everything they do."

Once AYES students graduate from high school and receive their AYES certificates, they are qualified to be hired as entry-level technicians. They will have a strong foundation in automotive systems, including electronics, and solid on-the-job experience as well. The AYES experience also prepares students to go for two- or four-year college degrees in automotive technology or other fields, if that is where their career path takes them.

AYES studies say that the income potential for a master technician can range from $30,000 to upwards of $50,000, annually.

In addition to Live Oaks, the AYES program is offered at Northwest Career Center in Colerain Township, Ohio; U.S. Grant Vocational School in Bethel, Ohio; and Miami Valley Career Technology Center in Dayton, Ohio.

AYES's future plans include bringing other automotive-related groups into the effort and to extend the scope of educational preparation to include other dealership positions, such as service consultants, warranty administrators and parts department personnel.