I took welding at the area career center my senior year. It was more of an industrial environment than typical shop classroom. The instructor had been a foreman/pusher prior to being a welding instructor. Towards the end of class one day he yelled "alright you assholes it's time to clean up". I kept working. He saw me working and yelled "Drake, I said clean up!". I walked over and went nose to nose with him and said "you didn't tell me to clean up. You told the assholes to clean up!" He got a silly grin on his face and said "Mr. Drake, please clean up".
I fought this fight for most of my 30 years. I even taught a great program , Project Lead the Way, which was an engineering group of courses. Everyone was very happy with PLTW, it was the hot ticket. I enjoyed teaching it. It was best when my days were Auto and PLTW, sweet times!! But . . . the same things I did in PLTW I did in my Auto and Metal, even Architecture courses. But no one cared then. But when it was PLTW, the ocean parted. I laughed inside I see now Tech Ed made Fox news. It was about the way Tech Ed will be growing. Like now they realize what "we" knew all along, it was an important block of courses. It satisfied students for many reasons, all of them good. Maybe now I can be a consultant and make big money helping them decide what to do in this new improved "Tech Ed" lol!
My Auto Shop teacher,who I LOVED! Dressed up like Pancho Via one year,on Cinco De Mayo,and shot two pearl handle pistols with blanks,at two female teachers as they came out of the ladies room and made them both pee. hahaha He got put on sebatacle(teacher probation) for a year. When he came back,he retired. Mr Askins Bell High School '75-'78.
I had 38 years as a shop teacher, Dept chairman etc. I was taught that a teacher had to have control of the classroom before education could take place. I was a 'no nonsense' teacher especially when safety was involved. Yes, the 60's were different than today and physical punishment was used at times. I taught many different subjects, auto shop, adv woodworking, electronics aand CAD. I always had my classes full as I tried to make everythin interesting and applicable to jobs available in our area. One of my best students in auto shop was a stunning blond young lady. She begged me to let her take my course. I later found out her father owned a trucking company. When sound systems became more interesting to kids, the auto program started to dwindle. I could never do anything illegal or immoral as there are about 6000 students scattered around the world watching me. No matter where I go, airports, vacation sites etc, I hear someone say "hey Mr. Evans, what are you doing here?" It was a great experience but could not go back today as things are really different. I think my truck projects keep me sharp and up to date with whats going on in the world.
My Santa Clara high school metal shop was excellent. Our student teacher in 1957 was none other than Dick Beith, VW Bonneville record holder (look it up) and later opened "E.T.Mags" in Northern California, where his final offerings were the E.T.llls. 'Mr. Beith' mentored my casting of several hot rod pieces, the sales of which helped fund the building of my red '32. A brilliant engineer, he earned his degree before he was 21. One of my most unforgettable characters.
our auto shop teacher was a weird old bird, he was like70 years old, he always told a story about going fishing and sitting on the bank a UFO flew up, looked at him..took his bobber out of the water 3 times and flew off..he said the UFO gave him cancer.. ya cant make this stuff up....
Thanks to Mr. Nelson (Shop) and Mr. McGee (Autoshop) for being my mentors and teaching me more than I even realized. I am now on my 21st year of teaching shop. I say things they said to me and even use some of the same corny jokes. I have all my digits and so do my students.
My son took auto shop because he was actually interested in learning, while most of his class mates took it for an easy credit. The shop teacher was an old flathead stock car racer engine builder and quite respected in this area. He realized my kid wanted to learn and spent extra time with him. After my son graduated he worked at a local auto machine shop specializing in drag race engines,and then got an opportunity to go to north Carolina as an instructer at a NASCAR school. He then went racing and was an engine tuners for some of the top names in Winston cup and now is employed in a top position at one of the top NASCAR teams. I saw his old shop teacher at a parts store one day and he asked about my son. I told him where he was working,andwhat he was doing, and he started to cry. He said he was so proud knowing one of his students had done well. It was very emotional to see this old mam cry.
In the late 50's our auto shop teacher would look around, and if everyone was present he would walk across the street to the gym for the rest of the afternoon. If a student disagreed with any thing in Mr Denton's program, there was a standing invitation " lets go to the mats and decide who will prevail". If a student ticked him off the punishment was always, " write X number of pages from the textbook". Engine theory and parts design by Mason. My pages were often different handwriting and extra personel suggestions included , but it was allright, he just tore them in half without reading them. I once smashed my finger and yelled a curse word. He was behind me, and he yelled, that will be 10 Pages. I turned around and yelled back. Double it you SOB. He smiled and said okay. It was worth it. Bruce Works good Lasts long time
In the early 70's. our Shop Teachers (Auto, Metal, Wood, Architecture) were all pretty laid back guys, with twisted senses of humor. In Auto Shop, teach explained how to use a spark plug cleaner/tester early on. Of course he quietly told a few of us to be careful where the ground is & NEVER clip the lead to a shop stool. Of course, we just HAD to use it to keep the class jerk-off jumpy & nervous! Our Metal Shop Teacher, Bernie, got the surprise of his life the year before I took his class. Every Sr class had to make wood patterns & cast aluminum in the sandbox. The seniors broke up VW blocks, trans cases, along with the screen doors & stuff they garbage picked. Did you know that VW stuff is a mix of aluminum with magnesium? Neither did he. Lots of excitement from when the crucible went up in white hot flames 'til they got it put out. I'm lucky to have been taught so much by a great group of guys.
In California in the fifties, industrial arts and vocational teachers could get a teaching credential with out a degree if they could pass a proficency class. Our auto shop teacher was a NASCAR engine builder who had to move to the west coast because his wife had asthma. All of our shop teachers wore dress shirts with ties and shop coats. That auto shop teacher taught us how to take MoPar canister filters from the forties and install them on almost any engine with female hygene products as the filtering element!
Vince Rogers, Auto Shop Teacher, Master Mechanic and all around good guy. South Charleston High School 1963 -64 Class. Showed how to charge a compacitor on the SUN MACHINE....MY GAWD those hurt when the hit or dropped on your sweaty shirt while under a car. Had I took college prep, I would have been somebody today, not an OLD MAN who messes with OLD CARS
I had a auto shop teacher in high school in the 1960s. During class one day i ask how a hilife rocker arm changed how cam timing. An was told it didnt make any difference. They were just selling you a part. Next day i took a hot rod magazine to class an explained to him how it worked. He kicked me out of class. I guess he thought i was being a smart ass. Well next year an a new teacher was at the school had a open mine. Wish i could show the first one how i turned out. Had my own body shop. Set a world record at bonneville in 2006(aa/cbfa) an been teaching jail inmates auto body paint auto upholstery from 1996 to the present. I dont have to be a badd ass all my student are.
Not auto shop, but wood and metal shop. Helmut K. was an awesome guy. He'd ask us what we thought our project was worth mark wise then give his own impressions so we were both satisfied with the effort put it (I'm lousy at wood) He had a reputation though. He threw things. If you were working a lathe with long hair or loose clothes, it was probable that a hammer would be whizzing by your head before you could do anything stupid. (he had great aim). Never hit a student, but prevented a lot of accidents and made an impression on many students. He had cool stories too. Had been conscripted into the Hitler Youth when a boy. He stole tank and equipment parts and sold them back as salvage to the Nazis.. real patriot used to put small bullets on the train tracks so when the train went over it sounded like machine guns. just to watch the soldiers scatter. I suspect a healthy dose of BS there, but it was entertaining.
You had to watch the machine shop teacher at our high school if he found you standing around bs'ng insead of doing what you were suposed to be doing he would walk up holding the head of a ball pein hammer with the handle sticking out between his fingers and act like he was joining in the conversation when suddeny thwak... right in the nuts, folowed by a "get back to work" Lets see a teacher get away with that nowadays.
I am a retired shop teacher. I had many great experiences. Probably the greatest was standing in the hotel parking lot last year, on the evening before the HAMB Drags. I looked around and there were at least 6 of my former students. I hope that in some way I played a part in the reason that they were there. John
HACIENDA HEIGHTS CALIFORNIA, AUTO SHOP TEACHER MR. VAN DEN BRINK, I'LL NEVER FOR GET HIM, I was a freshman in 1973 and he had a very cool dark green 1949 Ford Custom, nosed, decked, lowered, parked in the shop garage but he didn't drive it, at least I never saw it run, and at the time I wondered why it looked the way it did, I didn't know anything about customs back then, wish I had so I could've asked him more about it..
I am currently a high school Metal Shop and Power Mechanics teacher. For the most part there are few behavior problems and every kid leaves with skills they never had before. I tell peple it feels more like playing for me than actual work. Safety is #1 and hard work is demanded.
The superintendent of our school didn't like auto shop, and didn't like buying tools or supplies. He did however like getting his car and district vehicles fixed for free by the students. When a new tool was needed my teacher would wait until when of those vehicles was in for repair. Once the car was apart, as luck would have it, we would need that new tool to put the car back together. Some how we always got the tools we needed. The old guy knew every trick in the book, even got me a job at a shop after school.
RHOPPER, Sadly that's the way a lot of school administrators regard "shop" classes as their own little repair shops for their RV's , boats, cars, golf carts, etc.
I was fortunate to have a very cool auto shop teacher. So cool, he told me once "Sam, I will never remember the good students I have had, but I will remember you" . I did get an A in his class however. This was at John Marshall High in 1961 L.A.. Mr. Curtis was building a Vicky Coupe for himself in the shop which was sectioned, chopped and channeled, it had a DeSoto Hemi in it. When he retired to Bishop, Ca. he started an Auto Shop in the high school there because they did not have one. Sadly he has passed, I have looked for the Vicky for years with no luck. The stories he told of pre WW2 hot rodding were amazing.
My dad was a shop teacher, and he went to Stout for a while as well - however, he was there in the middle 1930s. He had all his fingers, too.
No shop class was complete without watching this guy! http://youtu.be/qkse0OBDIVQ http://youtu.be/OC4_VUvIgig
Had and auto shop teacher who had a thing about people with key rings with alot of keys on it. Swore up and down that all that weight would cause the ignition switch to go bad. Gleefully held up his one key for his car and proclaimed he had never lost his key. Guess what we ended up looking for later that day.
my shop teacher Don Leonard was the best. He hated anyone messing with stuff on his desk and would charge up consensers and sit their and twirl them around, toss them up in the air and catch them and soon after just sit them on his desk for someone to come along and pick up, BAMM and zap the living shit out of ya! funny as all hell since i knew the secret since i was charging them for him. as long as you didn't touch the end of the wire coming out of it while holding it you were fine. that sure kept most of the guys from fucking with shit on his desk. Thanks Don for being such a cool dude!
In the mid 70s, I was teaching at Ypsilanti H.S. six or seven 55 minute classes of basic Auto Mechanics. Most of the students were not real interested in becoming wrenches, but were doing just enough to get a technical credit and move on. Being single and new to the area, I didn't have a lot to do after school, so I started working on my '56 Corvette drag car. It wasn't long before I had several students who wanted to work on their own stuff after school, too. After school got out at 3:00 3-7 kids would show up and we would work on fun stuff. It got so that we would be there until 9:00 or 10:00 many nights, with someone making a food run so we could keep right on working. My planning period was first hour, so if I was a little groggy, I could wake up before getting started on the regular day. After one particularly late night, I got a phone call about 7:00 AM. "Mr. Schneider, this is Mrs. Jenick!" I braced myself for the beating I was about to get. "I just want to know one thing.....was John really working with you until 1:30 at the school?" "Yes mam, I'm sorry, you see we were trying to get this transfer case back together..." She interupts me with, "Well, whatever your doing, you just keep doing it. John has never had any interest in school, until you got there. His grades are all coming up and he can't wait to get to school." When I hung up the phone, I just stared at it for a long time. The department chair, Nick Kokales, says, "Well, are you just going to sit there all day, dreaming? We got kids to teach!" I saw John several years later. He was working as a technician in a dealership (driveability, I think). He had a Pro-Modified type car and was racing regularly. Tragically, both his parents were killed in an automobile accident. Thanx John, you got to live some of the dreams I had, too. And thank you Mrs. Jenick, you not only made my day, you gave me a reason to get up every morning and keep plugging away, even when I could not see the results of my efforts. And Nick I got it! Hammer the basics, then let them go as far as they can. They'll figure it out.
I believe that I had best auto shop teacher... Mr. Elisha Moniz. (Central H.S. Prov. R.I. 1965-68). For three years 2-1/2 hours a day, he would teach us in a way that made it "Fun to learn". Thanks to him, I went on to be an excellent mechanic. Throughout the years I sent him Christmas cards and postcards from different areas I traveled. I stopped getting replies from him about 4 years ago, he was in his mid 80's... RIP, Mr. Moniz.
The Jalopy Journal
