St. Vrain Valley’s advanced automotive students are using the skills they’ve learned at the Career Elevation and Technology Center to repair cars for women in need.
Teacher Brian Smallwood is in his third year of a partnership with a local nonprofit, A Woman’s Work, and Stapp Toyota. The students provide the repair labor, while a Woman’s Work provides funding and identifies recipients. Stapp Toyota helps them source used cars and sells them to the program at wholesale prices.
Smallwood said the Driving for Success program lets students give back to the community while participating in project-based learning.
“It’s been very successful,” he said. “The students do pretty much everything.”
Kate Gaddis, executive director of A Woman’s Work, said the organization’s main focus is providing monetary grants to women with emergency financial needs who live in St. Vrain Valley’s boundaries and in Berthoud. About seven years ago, she said, the organization began receiving more transportation-related requests, including help with expensive car repairs. But many of the cars needing repairs were worth less than the cost to fix them.
So the organization started its “Driving for Success” program, giving away two to four cars a year. Since then, as the prices for used cars have continued to rise, the need has only increased. With a goal of helping more women, the organization partnered with St. Vrain’s automotive program.
“The biggest part is that (Smallwood) is able to help us identify vehicles that make sense,” Gaddis said. “And we’re not paying for labor, only for parts, so we can afford to help more women. We can feel confident we’re putting people in good cars. It’s been really awesome. I’m really proud of this program.”
Students have repaired about 50 cars to give away so far. Most of the work is done by an afterschool project team, which offers a paid position for students who have completed many of the automotive classes and want to continue learning.
This semester, there are two students on the team, seniors Fiona Bau-Madsen, from APEX Homeschool, and Michelle Zavala, from Longmont High. A third student, Silver Creek High junior Chase Olson, is an unofficial member who will formally join next semester, along with three other students.
Zavala said she grew up around cars and really likes the industry, including the wide range of fields that are involved. Taking classes in high school, she said, has allowed her to learn more about those options.
For Olson, another car enthusiast, taking classes in high school will save money in trade school or community college — students can earn up to 42 college credits in the program. It’s a good industry, he added, because “not as many people know how to work on cars because they’ve become so complicated.”
The afterschool program, they said, allows them to learn about all different areas, including performing full vehicle inspections. They also get to working on many different types of cars, take on more complicated repairs, learn about customer service, and use a shop management system to locate and order parts. The repairs range from minor work to replacing engines and transmissions.
“We can touch on a lot more topics,” Olson said. “We can do all these different things. It’s really cool.”
Zavala added that she likes knowing her work is helping women in the community.
“I really enjoy working in the shop here,” she said. “Our work has a purpose. Having a working car can just take a lot of mental load off someone. It’s really nice to help people out.”
After completing all necessary maintenance and repairs, the students present the vehicle to the grantee and go through a check list. Bau-Madsen said the women can bring the cars back to the school district’s shop, which charges a reduced rate for labor, saving “tremendous amounts of money.”
She was part of a three-student team that won first place at a state competition for a presentation on the project in the community service category, allowing them to compete over the summer at the SkillsUSA national competition. In the spring, they also attended A Woman’s Work fundraising luncheon and presented information about the program at a school board meeting.
“I am able to help out my community as I learn valuable life skills for my future,” she wrote in an email. “I am excited to grow the program over the following year. I would like to teach some of the younger students about this incredible opportunity so that they can continue in the following years.”
