Simulated workplace prepares EHS auto mechanics students

Enterprise High School’s auto mechanics program uses fun and interactive programs along with a simulated workplace to get students ready for life after school.

EHS Automotive Service Technology instructor Steve Icenogle say that one of the more important things for him is to insure his students are enjoying the work.

“One thing I want is for their learning process in here to be fun and that’s what we try to do,” Icenogle said. “It’s more hands on and not just all sitting at a desk.”

Icenogle said that along with the hands-on automotive work in the auto mechanics shop, students use interactive software on chrome books along with virtual reality programs.

Also, EHS automotive students treat the program like they are coming to work every day.

“They come in and clock in just like they do at a job,” Icenogle said. “They have their own uniforms, they take order tickets and call in parts. Everything in here runs like industry does to prepare them for that.”

Along with being able to earn scholarships to schools like the Universal Technical Institute – which is a feeding ground for NASCAR mechanics – and Wallace Community College, EHS also offers dual enrollment programs at LBW for Automotive Service.

“If they start the summer after ninth grade year (doing dual enrollment) they can leave here and have a certificate from LBW at the same time,” Icenogle said. “I think that’s great for them. They can get certified in Automotive Service Excellence here.”

Icenogle has speakers from different colleges and technical schools along with businesses that come to speak to students but also said that it is important that students realize that traditional college isn’t their only options coming out of high school.

“It's very important to understand that going to college doesn’t necessarily make you successful,” he said. “It’s a way to get you there but so is technical school and so is going straight to work.

“I think for a long time people have pushed that you have to have a degree but that’s not necessarily the case anymore. There are a lot of good paying jobs out there that you don’t need a degree for. I want students to be aware of that.”

Icenogle pointed to a student that was having difficulties in school that turned his story into a success through the automotive service program.

“I had a student that had some struggles in school and I got him in here and to start with he was not what I could say is the ideal student,” he said. “After a little time he really started to take to the class and pass all his tests the first go through.

“If I showed him something one time he knew it from there. He started co-opping at (a local car dealership) his 11th grade year and stuck with it through his senior year and now he’s been there for several years and has moved up there. He’s really a success story of what someone can make out of themselves.”

Icenogle himself is also a success story of the EHS automotive program. He graduated from EHS and after working at Ed Sherling Ford for a few years, started teaching auto mechanics at Ashford High School. In 2004 he returned to his alma mater.

“This was my dream job at Enterprise,” he said. “Four years (after going to Ashford) I was able to come here and take my old teacher’s job when he retired.”