THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602270118
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
The bright, red 1995 Pontiac Grand Am sitting in front of the Norfolk Vocational Technical Center on Military Highway glistened despite overcast skies.
Only the bumper-sticker-sized label affixed squarely in the center of the windshield, and the absence of tags and city and state stickers, gave any indication that it wouldn't soon connect students or teachers with the freedom of the road.
This car was destined for other things.
``Donated by General Motors for educational purposes. Do not license, title, drive or sell,'' read the label obstructing any would-be driver's vision.
The vehicle was given to the center through the General Motors Youth Educational Systems initiative, a special school-to-work transition strategy announced by GM president and CEO John F. Smith Jr. in 1995. The car will be used to train students enrolled in the auto service technician classes.
Center principal William Davis Jr., accompanied by assistant principal Edward Pahl, accepted the car last week from GM executives.
``It's an opportunity for us to work on the latest equipment so that the work the students are doing is up-to-date and relevant to industry's needs,'' Davis said. ``It will help us obtain National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation and Automotive Service Excellence certification.
``Because of certification, our students will have a head start. The partnership with GM is helping to reduce the cost of education and provide a steady stream of well-trained employees.''
The program has found a use for cars, damaged prior to sale or repurchased through GM's customer satisfaction buy-back programs, that previously were relegated to the scrap heap. The cars contain state-of-the-art electronics and systems that students might not otherwise come into contact with until actually on the job.
M.J. ``Mike'' Zafonte, district service manager for Pontiac for the Washington zone, based in Rockville, Md., and Thomas Perry, director of Hampton Roads GM Dealers Training Center in Portsmouth, presented the car on behalf of GM.
``We are 60,000 service technicians short,'' Zafonte said. ``That number is estimated to rise to 100,000.''
He and Perry are confident placing cars like the Grand Am in the hands of vocational educators is a good way to alleviate the shortfall. Perry explained that, in Hampton Roads, four other cars have been donated to a regional vocational training center in Hampton.
``Hopefully,'' he told Norfolk Public Schools officials, ``there'll be some more.''
``It's great - the technology: it has an air bag and ABS brake system,'' said Jimmie Nixon, one of two automotive instructors at the center, ``Through the program, with a shortage of automotive technicians, they're trying to provide service to their customers.''
Rachel Hightower, executive director of School Governance, and Denise Wiggins, acting director of Adult and Vocational Education, represented the school system at the ceremony. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Principal William Davis Jr. and Denise Wiggins accept the 1995
Pontiac that Norfolk Vocational Technical Center students will work
on.
by CNB