Imagine that you're back in high school, preparing to finish your junior year, when you show up for your advanced automotive class where a guy from something called “AYES” starts talking about “your future.” You only half listen until you hear him utter, “discounted Snap-on tools,” then you sit up and pay attention. He continues to describe a program where high school juniors apply for an apprenticeship with an area GM, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota or VW dealer, and those who are accepted would begin working full time the summer before their senior year. “Would I be paid?” you ask. “Yes,” he responds. He also says that a $3,000 starter set of Snap-on tools would be yours to use for only $310! The dealer would absorb the rest of the tool cost, and get this: If you complete the program and stay with the dealer after graduation, you keep the tools!

He tells you that you won't be dumping trash or sweeping floors all day, but shadowing your trained mentor technician, who will enhance the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF)-approved education that you're already getting—learning brake jobs, alignments, scan tool use, engine performance diagnosis, and electrical troubleshooting. You'd be helping your mentor tech do all of this while learning a trade and earning an apprentice wage. Sound pretty good to you?

It's happening all across the country, and in my school. In fact, I just returned from visiting my students in six area dealerships, where I found my auto students learning our trade from experienced, friendly techs who spoke to me about how they “loved giving something back.” The students were using their Snap-on tools to help their mentors replace torque converter lockup solenoids, perform LOFs, service disc brakes, diagnose dead battery complaints, and R&R front CV axles. My students were flourishing in an atmosphere that can often be intimidating; it certainly was when I began my career. But the Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) initiative takes all of it into account so that one-by-one, dealerships will “grow their own” right out of high school.

So, how did you get your start in the auto repair profession?

Brian Manley (center) with the winners of the Colorado State Ford/AAA Auto Skills Contest for students.

I, like many of you, discovered my love of, and aptitude for, working on cars while in high school. From my basic auto instructor, Mr. Riley, I learned how to stab a distributor, how a clutch worked, and to never call a ratchet “rat-s-t.” As a junior I enrolled at our area Vocational Technical Center to study “advanced auto.” For two years I spent four hours a day learning engine tuneup, brakes, alignment, electrical systems and engine mechanical; all of the basics necessary to begin a career in auto repair. Mr. Schott, Mr. Williams and Mr. Tornow all gave me the required technical competence and needed VICA employability skills to give me a good shot at landing a job, but I had no apprenticeship offered to me, no promise of tools, nobody offering me a job right out of high school.

I spent the next 15 years working for three independent repair shops in Denver and Kansas City, where I practiced my trade while furthering my education through technical seminars and community college. I also worked hard to earn master technician status through ASE. Eventually, a position opened up in a Denver area school, where I took the vocational instructor position in a struggling program.

Long story short, I took the necessary classes to receive a teaching license. I purchased current textbooks, created lab sheets, replaced missing hand tools, and repaired the broken “ratchets.” I updated the curriculum and tools, rebuilt the SkillsUSA-VICA chapter, and earned ASE certification for our school by meeting the national standards set forth by NATEF. Next, we applied for, and earned, AYES certification. This brought manufacturer representation to our advisory committee, which in turn started the process of a formal apprenticeship program with GM, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota dealerships.

When my students want to move into the auto repair field, how do they get there? Well, some enter the AYES program and continue on with their dealer when they graduate, then move on to postsecondary manufacturer training. Some are placed in independent repair facilities, where many stay on working full time. The two students pictured with me had just won the Colorado State Ford/AAA Auto Skills Contest, which earned them a two-year, all-expenses-paid scholarship to the Ford ASSET program at a local community college, some hand tools, a free trip to Washington, D.C., and guaranteed jobs in two area Ford dealerships. One of my students, Anna Oliver, took advantage of the ASA apprenticeship program and stayed in her independent shop after graduation.

Look at the photo carefully. Is your shop's name on one of those patches that adorn our coveralls? Probably not, but I'd like to see it happen. As a fifth-year vocational automotive instructor, I can see the writing on the wall: The major manufacturers are moving fast to grab my graduates. My advice is this: Form a partnership with your area vo-tech school and become involved on its advisory committee, become a guest speaker, help set up awareness programs for back-to-school night, visit the school often, and make yourself known. If the school is not NATEF certified, help them to achieve this certification. Form an apprenticeship program with area shops—there are many successful models to study from around the country.

I'd like for you to visit my program and become involved. I'd love to recommend my good students for apprenticeships in good independent shops. Let's work together to provide even more positive experiences for our promising young auto students.

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Brian Manley, a Tech to Tech columnist for AutoInc., is a vocational automotive instructor for the Cherry Creek school district in Aurora, Colo. He is an ASE triple master certified technician and a member of the NATEF board of trustees.

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