By Kim McDarison
Wednesday morning at the Whitewater High School was a special day for eight tech ed students taking automotive classes.
Their teacher, Justin Buntrock, said the students, all of whom had passed an examination certifying them in various aspects of automotive service and repair, were the recipients of specially purchased customized mechanic shop shirts, each sporting the name of the student, the “Whitewater automotive” program logo, and an entry level ASE (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) patch.
The shirts, which were distributed to the students Wednesday morning, served as an incentive to encourage them to take the certification exams, Buntrock said.
Whitewater High School Principal Brent Mansky came up with the idea, Buntrock noted, adding that the opportunity to earn the shirts was well-received by his automotive students, who viewed them as a source of program and school pride.
The value to ASE certification
According to Buntrock, eight of his students had each taken and passed one of two exams in December.
Students in his “Automotive 1” class, including Nolan Legge, Gavan LaFlash, Nate Holden, AJ Canipe and Logan Voegeli, took and passed an exam to certify them in the service and maintenance of brakes. Taking the Automotives 1 class and passing the brake-related entry level ASE exam were the two requirements for certification.
Students in his “Automotives 2” class, including Scotty Krebbs, Justin Johnson and Jacob Raglin, had previously taken Automotives 1, and last semester, they took and passed an entry level ASE exam in “MLR,” or maintenance and light repair, Buntrock said, describing the exam taken by students in Automotives 2 as “more rigorous.”
Students who take the automotive classes offered at the Whitewater High School learn auto mechanics and shop-based skills, Buntrock said.
“The ASE certification is a nationally recognized certification and an industry standard for most mechanics in the industry,” Buntrock noted in a recent email.
He described the exams taken by his students as “very content heavy on theory and automotive repair skills and knowledge.”
Buntrock said he steers his students toward achieving the ASE certifications because, “it’s just a really good opportunity to get a foot in the door to start a career in the automotive field,” further describing the certifications as “a good resume builder.”
Among the students who take his classes, he said, “some will go into the workforce or will go to school for an automotive career, and the ASE certification is an almost guaranteed in.”
Still, he said, not every student who takes automotive classes is planning a career in the industry, but those who take his classes and earn certification will have opportunities to save money because they will be able to perform some of their own work on their vehicles.
“It benefits them in real-world life,” he said, adding that he likes to say: “life skills and career readiness.”
The ASE provides both, he said.
While all of his students are given an opportunity to take the entry level ASE exams, not everyone passes them, he stated.
This year, in his Automotives 1 class, 11 students took the brakes exam and five achieved certification.
In his Automotives 2 class, six students took the MLR entry level exam and three achieved certification.
Students can try again anytime before June, he said.
Some students are drawn to the certification opportunities because they are likely considering a career in the field or have automotive backgrounds in their families.
It’s a history that Buntrock shares.
A new automotive teacher
Buntrock joined the Whitewater High School staff at the beginning of this school year. Prior to that, he said, he served for five years as an automotive shop teacher at the Fort Atkinson High School.
He made the move because he saw an opportunity to become involved with program development, which, he said, offered some rewarding challenges, and the school had a larger automotive shop.
While serving in the School District of Fort Atkinson and in an earlier interview with Fort Atkinson Online, Buntrock said his interest in the automotive industry was nurtured by his father, whom, he said, wanted he and his brother to have self-sufficiency when it came to their vehicles.
“My old man was a mechanic for about 15 years before I was born … He taught me about mechanics,” Buntrock said in the earlier interview.
Buntrock said his brother chose a career in the automotive field, but he, after attending the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, was drawn to teaching.
As an automotive instructor, he said, he found a way to use both sets of skills.
As a teacher, he noted, he finds helping students develop a career path equally as inspiring as giving them the ability to become self-reliant.
Supporting the tech ed program
Along with supporting his students, Buntrock said he wanted to embrace an opportunity to develop tech ed programming.
Within the Whitewater Unified School District, he said, he was impressed by the level of support for the tech ed program, and for embracing opportunities brought through the entry level ASE certification process, which, he noted, can help support his automotive classroom budget.
He made reference to the “Carl D. Perkins: Strengthening CTE (career and technical education) for the 21st Century Act,” which, according to information found on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) website, was re-enacted in 2018 and set in motion in 2019 to serve as a mechanism used to establish regional pathways, increase the rigor of work-based programs, improve student performance through focused activities and support, and expand nontraditional occupations, among other goals. The federal program is grant-based and facilitated at the state level.
Buntrock described opportunities made available through the program as “substantial.”
Information about the program as presented on the DPI website is here: https://dpi.wi.gov/cte/carl-perkins.
Buntrock said his building principal saw an increase in opportunities brought by the entry level ASE certification program and offered his support to the tech ed program through development of the customized shirts.
Additional collaboration was established at the high school when members from the school’s home economics department were tapped to sew the entry level ASE patch onto each recipient’s shirt.
The shirts worked well as an incentivizing tool because each student saw it as school memorabilia, Buntrock said, adding that when Mansky suggested the idea, he thought it was “wild and cool.”
Growing the program
Looking at the success of the high school’s tech ed program over the last year, Buntrock said he arrived at a time of change, and while a foundation was in place, he saw room for growth.
He works within the tech ed department with fellow tech ed teacher Mason Pautsch, who joined the high school staff during the 2020-21 school year and teaches woods and construction, Buntrock noted.
As a teacher who is new in the district, Buntrock said he has spent time building relationships and rapport with his students, and he and Pautsch have worked together to grow the department into a place through which they can “give our students the best learning opportunities we can.
“We are on the right track,” he said.
Within the tech ed environment they have collectively envisioned, Buntrock said, the focus is on safety, while offering a “creative, career-oriented and life-skills-oriented area for growth.”
This year, Buntrock engaged with nearly 100 students through such course offerings as Automotives 1 and 2, Metals 1 and 2, and a class about “car care,” he said.
Next year, there will be some additional course offerings, including Advanced Auto and a class called “small engines,” among others.
As he looks toward the future of the Whitewater High School tech ed department, he said: “I’m most excited about the opportunities I know I can provide my students through the support of the administration and the district.”
Now, almost a year in, he said, he feels connected to his students.
“Everything feels good, and strong,” he said.
Whitewater High School Automotive 1 and 2 students AJ Canipe, from left, Jacob Raglin, Logan Voegeli, Nolan Legge, Nate Holden, Justin Johnson, Gavan LaFlash, Scotty Krebs, and tech ed automotive teacher Justin Buntrock gather in the automotive shop after the students receive their customized mechanic shop shirts. The shirts were presented Wednesday to eight students who in December achieved entry level ASE certification.
Certificates, indicating that several students have passed their respective entry level ASE exams and achieved certification, hang on a tech ed classroom wall.
Kim McDarison photos.
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