The Automotive Technology Program is central to many of the school's frequent and ongoing presentations about its 23 Career and Technical Education programs.  It is one of the school's best examples of how students can use the Career Center to learn practical skills that will make them money.  More recently, the Automotive Technology program has led the way with its early adoption of Dual-Enrollment and Integrative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) teaching approaches (see attached "3 Voices" STEM Video featuring a computer science, physical therapy and automotive technology student).

Some of these many presentations include the following:

--Annual Parent Information Night and Back-to-School Breakfast (PowerPoint attached)

--8th Grade Assemblies:  Every 8th grade student in the county attends an assembly about Career Center programs.

--9th Grade Tours:  Every 9th grade student from five feeder high schools comes to the Career Center to tour the programs and meet the instructors within each cluster.  Students get the opportunity to ask questions about the program and see firsthand what is going on in the labs.  An Automotive Technology instructor, Dale Winchell, is leading these tours on behalf of the Trade and Industrial cluster in 2009-2010.

--Virginia Governor's Visit:  Governor Tim Kaine came to the school in January of 2009 to recognize the award of a $120,000 Virgnia Governor's CTE Academy grant.   Automotive staff and students participated in a student panel at the event.  This event, in turn, has led to many other visitors and panels at the local, state and even national level.

Best practices used in the Automotive Technology program:

1) Opportunities to work on real vehicles -- those donated by citizens and manufucturers, and those brought by the community for repair.  In addition, students are able and encouraged to bring their own vehicles for repair -- a benefit which greatly increases their perception of the value of the program.

2) Access to a professionally equipped, working auto shop, which includes:  9 bays; six lifts; hand and computer tools; fully-stocked parts room.

3) Industry-certificied program and instructors -- The program is NATEF-certified, and the instructors are ASE certified.

4) Participation in the Automotive Youth Educational System (AYES) -- a nationally-recognized model for Automotive Technology curriculum and instruction.  The AYES program includes relationships with local car dealers, who provide mentoring, job shadowing, job interviewing and even paid internships.

5) Seamless integration with the Automotive Technology program of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) -- Through the Governor's Academy program at our school, Automotive Technology students are able to take the college placement exam and orientation course on our campus, free-of-charge.  When they pass this exam and introductory class, they are eligible to take the second and third years of the Auto program for both high school and college credit.

6) Integration of math instruction through the Math-in-CTE program -- This program provides math-enriched lesson plans and teaching methodologies to Auto Tech students.

7) Use of online curriculum (AYES and CDX) and certifications (S/P2) -- the program has internet-enabled computers in the classroom and on the shop floor that allow access to this curriculum.