Cascade High School Automotive Technology Advisory Committee meeting
February 2, 2005
Cascade High School Automotive Technology Classroom.
Chair Jack Pennington called the meeting to order at 3:45 pm. Present were members Jack Pennington (Pignataro Volkswagen), Gary Neill (Renton Technical College) and Wes Ogden (Les Schwab). Instructor Mike Plumb and Everett School District representative Carl Fender were also present.
Trends in the automotive industry were discussed. Gary Neill spoke about a recent study showing that Enhanced Stability Control systems on newer vehicles have a real effect on accidents. These systems are the ‘limited-slip differential’ of today integrating Anti-Lock Brakes, Powertrain electronics and newer steering and suspension sensors. Jack Pennington went on to add that there are more and more electronics on modern vehicles and more guided repair computers. The new CAN (Controlled Area Network) network systems have dozens of individual system computers sharing information over a local area network in the car. Clearly students need a great deal of exposure to electronics. There was a discussion about the basic reading, writing and math skills needed for a successful automotive technician. There was general agreement 9th to 10th grade was the minimum necessary to be successful in the industry.
The status of the school’s standing with A-YES was discussed at length. The A-YES program (specifically; Tom Lopp, the state program director) was asking each participating school to place at least 7 students into internships this summer, or the school will be dropped from the program. Realistically, the school is likely to produce only 2 or 3 students that are likely to move into the program this summer. A-YES participation is also expensive for the school district. A-YES requires the instructor to attend a conference in Detroit that Mike did not feel was a productive use of school funding. There was discussion about the value of the program to the students. The chair elected to defer the decision to the next meeting (May 4, 2005 @ 3:30) and wanted to invite Tom Lopp to that meeting.
The status of the school’s NATEF Certification was discussed. It is time for the five-year recertification. The advisory committee needs to do an evaluation of the program for submission to NATEF. It was moved/seconded/passed that the program purchase new textbooks prior to the NATEF inspection. It was moved/seconded/passed directing the school district to proceed with a purchase order to NATEF for the certification process. The committee agreed to do the inspection at the next meeting. Gary Neill agreed to meet with Mike Plumb prior to that meeting to complete the remainder of the application for certification.
Meeting adjourned at 5:06 pm
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