Omaha Central High School student Isaac Ruiz Cooper arrived at Metropolitan Community College’s Automotive Career Exploration Day with an opportunity to explore automotive careers. He left with a new career interest and a connection to a potential future employer.
After talking with representatives from B Street Collision, Ruiz Cooper decided he wanted to pursue a career in auto collision repair. The company is interested in hiring him after he graduates from high school and completes core Auto Collision Technology classes at MCC, an accelerated program that can be completed in as little as one year.
Ruiz Cooper was among 101 students from nine area high schools who attended Automotive Career Exploration Day at the South Omaha Campus on Friday, Oct. 16. the Metropolitan Community College Students explored skilled trades through a career fair, hands-on activities and conversations with industry professionals at the Automotive Training Center.
Representatives from B Street Collision, Certified Transmission, City of Omaha, Gregg Young Chevrolet, O’Daniel Honda, Mad Hatter, Riekes Equipment, Smeal, Sid Dillon and Vander Haag’s connected with students at the career fair
Students learned how to listen for the right sound while hammering out dents on metal. They participated in a paint simulation using water-based application. They raced against each other in teams to install a bumper on a damaged vehicle with Woodhouse Auto Group representatives. Other stations featured welding, automotive maintenance, diagnostics, engine repair, mobile tire repair with Jensen Tire & Auto and more
Scott Henry, MCC automotive outreach representative, works with high schools throughout the four-county region to coordinate impactful hands-on career learning experiences. Showcasing the variety of opportunities available in the trades is a priority, he said.
“We’re trying to bring in more students that are interested in the trades so they can see what we have to offer,” he said. “We have not only automotive technology, but the auto-collision program and the powersports program. They get to learn a little bit about each going through the stations.”
Connor Neuhaus, skilled trades and technical sciences instructor at Fremont High School, brought 36 students to the event. He teaches a dual-credit small engine repair class at the school’s Career and Technical Education Center, which is modeled from the facilities design of skilled trades programs hosted at the College’s South Omaha and Fort Omaha campuses.
Giving students an opportunity to explore technical careers while still in high school has been impactful at Fremont High School, where more than 700 students participate in dual enrollment programs. Bringing them into a college environment to see the progression of their training pathway is important.
“I’d say most of the students who came didn’t even know this place or this campus existed,” Neuhaus said.
Neuhaus said that if even one student decided to continue classes at MCC after high school, the trip would be a success. Chance Blanco, one of his dual-enrollment students, plans to do just that, although he has a different career path in mind.
“I already do a lot of automotive work through my job at Sutton Automotive,” Blanco said. “I want to go into the Utility Line Technician program instead.”
For students like Blanco and Ruiz Cooper, Automotive Career Exploration Day offers opportunities to connect their interests with potential career pathways.
“We've participated in this event since the start several years ago,” said Emily Workman, B Street Collision recruitment director. “We’ve met students here that we’ve brought on and that still work for us to this day.”
For Ruiz Cooper, a day spent exploring automotive careers could become the first step toward a job in the collision repair industry.
Visit mccneb.edu/SkilledTrades to learn about the College’s automotive programs.