I'm not sure if this will be of interest to you guys or not, but I thought I'd share anyway. On Saturday (2/1/14) the junior high I teach at had a Saturday math academy... thing... Anyway, since I'm car obsessed I decided to bring up my '55 and my OT car to see if I could get their attention. Our lesson was over percent change, so we used a decible meter to measure the volume of the exhaust reving, drive-bys, and even the stereo in my OT. Then we compared them using percents. We even did percent reductions in sound required by my neighborhood (inspired by real events ). I had a buddy bring his OT becuse it had a much better stereo. Most of the kids were very taken aback by the '55 (I know some of you guys are too ). I think by the end of it, they had a new apprecation for old cars. Scared the crap out of a few of them, so that made it even more fun for me. Our little setup outside: I felt obligated to do a burn out. Just wish I had known my principal was watching at the time... I wish I had more pictures to add, but students are in a lot of them, so I really can't post them.
Teachers can have a lot of influence with young minds in helping shape their future, be that literature,science or mathematics,interjecting old cars to help with getting a point across or relating principles is a plus. You sir should have been teaching when I was a kid. HRP
At the GNRS they had a car built by the High School class at Roseville,Michigan. Darn nice work too.It's on You Tube.
I remember my auto shop teacher at Bellflower (CA) High (class of 65) letting me mess around with hot rod stuff after my semester 6 cyl chevy build took me a week. I probably never thanked him adequately soooooo..................Thanks.
The principal and other school officials at Chariton High School also frown upon us young scholars leaving black marks in the parking lot... Hmm... I find it works out best if I don't hot rod on my 57 in the parking lot. Last time, I blew the teeth off the spider gears with a 4000 rpm clutch dump... Definitely not one of my prouder moments. but I sure showed up that 07 Mustang GT!!! And he never knew I hurt my car! This fall, I had the honor of my 57 being used in the choir's "Grease" play as "Greased Lightning."
EnragedHawk, I think that anything you can do to help get the younger generation (To which I belong. Forgot to mention I'm a senior...) is a step in the right direction!!! Our shop teacher has a shop day once a week where kids can bring in their own vehicles and work on them etc... His wife's family his big into sprint cars so many sprint car parts are used in class demonstrations. By the way, NICE 55!!!
Thanks guys. We had a lot of fun. I probably had more fun than they did, but I gotta keep my life interesting as well as theirs. I still have a job so far as I know. That 57 is sweet, man! Very cool that it got used in a play, even cooler that you get to drive it to school!
Nice work Sir. I'm proud to say you're not alone. Here's a doodle I caught one of my kids doing in class of my car. I gave him an A. And here's my school workshop all prepped for a lesson in ergonomics... Keep up the good work my man!
kool to see yet more highschoolers on here, i cant tell you how many times my goofy-ass principal has told me to "tone it down" after letting my little OT car rip in the school parking lot. for a 90's "prefprmance" car that sucker's FAST. anyway after seein all you guys im throwin my truck project into overdrive for my junior year. and i WISH my teachers were cool enough to even know what a hotrod or kustom is much less own one. let your claas know im super jealous.
Last year, our shop teacher was trying to find a vehicle to demonstrate changing disc and drum brakes, and how to bleed brakes. At that point in time, I had a 56 Chevy stepside with a Camaro front suspension and 10 bolt rearend with a 350 small block and an automatic and IT NEEDED BRAKES!!! So, I took it in to him with new brake pads and shoes, brake line, master cylinder, and booster, and it kept them boys busy for a couple weeks!!! One kid asked if cars that old even had brakes...
hahaha yeah im pretty sure they did. my plan is to go to a nice auto body-paint tech school. so my truck is gonna get a nice new paint job and maybe even some kustom work done, well, hopefully
If only i had teachers like that in high school. I graduated last year, and tried not to hotrod much in the parking lot. I went all out with my train horns tho!
I have a Dixieland air horn on my old diesel truck and make sure to drive by the front of our 3-story high school and blast it during my 8th hour open.
All my friends would start honking as we waited for the buses to file out, and I would just empty my air tank. Zoning all of them out. Lol. No one ever said anything about it. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
HAHAHAHAHA!!!! That's awesome!!! I've got a 2ft long air horn off an IH semi... Hmmm... Bad ideas running through my mind...
Great job OP. My parents suggested I sign up for auto shop in HS which was interesting but the school had just gotten an electric vehicle sponsorship with the local EMC so most of my time was spent learning and putting together a 90s ford ranger running on electricity. Also, the shop teacher had been there 15+ years and was starting to get burned out. He left a year or two after I graduated and then the school started really winding down the "trades" wing of the school . . .
Been teaching for 20 years now, It's sad to see the auto shops disappearing in California due to budget cuts. It was one of the programs in my opinion that kept some kids in school, gave them a chance to "shine" and learn a skill that would take them beyond high school. I know a few indie shop owners I grew up with that went straight from school into a good paying job at a garage and have eventually got their own shops. A much needed program in my opinion.
One of the few things that can't be subcontracted to other countries is a blue collar trade that is done local. It is so scary how many young men don't know how to do anything with there hands and don't want to. My friends and I in high school probably ruined more stuff trying to work on it but we were learning basic common sense and mechanics I still use today. Basic hot rodding in high schools like assembling a T bucket would be great to teach kids and let them feel the rewards of accomplishment. Any young kid would love to know they just used there hands and got to hear an engine start up because of the work they did. We need to teach more trades. Just my 2 cents Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Last year I taught two metal shop classes at a local high school. The kids didn't really take me seriously until I brought my 67 GTO to school. My advanced class refused to do any work until I showed them my car. The beginning class (mostly 9th graders) didn't even notice it as they walked by. I may have crossed a line the day I brought my 55 chevy pickup. A kid asked what would happen if he put a scratch in my truck. I told him that I would put a scratch in him that I guaranteed would not buff out. Due to district budget concerns, I wasn't hired back. Now one teacher teaches shop at both high schools in the district. Dave
Another related thing is apprenticeships. Anybody doing it anymore? Way back in the 60's the state paid a portion of my wages (I think it was 50% but it's been a few years) while I was doing my apprenticeship. It worked out great for me because I got a job that normally wouldn't be there and worked out for the dealership because they got another body for half price that went on to be a trained bodyshop employee.
When I went through school in Southern California they had pretty much done away with Autoshop and Woodshop or anything you might actually use in real life…(you know, its not like you will ever live in a house made of wood or own a car… ) all the schools are going away from the useful stuff and teaching advanced math that your never going to use in real life and a bunch of other worthless B.S. thats what college is for. O.K. I'm done ranting… at least the way you did it keeps them interested good job.
if you mentioned a shop class to the faculty and staff at my school you get laughed at in the face. its really a shame.
When I graduated from Oswego State Teachers College in 1967, we had a saying; "IA Is Life." When I retired 33 years later IA was a dying subject and still is. Sad.
It's sad that our woodshop, metalshop, and automotive high school classes are going away and they are pushing more calculus and chemistry. I'm going to school to be a pharmacist and won't even have to use half of my knowledge from calculus etc on a daily basis. Nearly everybody has a car and may have to fit a broken door someday. I highly doubt I'll ever need to find the acceleration of a random equation of a line using the second derivative of that equation...
I don't know how things are in the rest of the world, but here we are expanding the tech/trade skills in high schools. Our hs tech center has over 600 students. All hs in our county are adding Ag classes. Ag covers basics in construction, welding and farming. Our center has received a grant to start a machine class which will be joined with our local community college. Diplomas and grad requirements have been changed to encourage shop/trade classes participation. Students can choose shop classes as an elective science credit. Last week we had 900+ freshman students at our jobs/trade fair that promoted our tech center. Students were bused to local business, hospitals, construction sites, and manufacturing plants as well as meeting the instructors at our school. I hope our state will continue this increased support of trade skills.
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