Albany High School’s automotive tech students have a new car to work on.
Participants like Simon Carey in the district’s three-year automotive program receive technical endorsements on their diplomas, enabling them to go right to work as auto techs.
“This gives us a chance to stay ahead of the curve, and again, help problems in our community,” Carey said.
At the Career and Technical Education Classroom Thursday, Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter said the hybrid 2019 Subaru Crosstrek, donated by the New York Power Authority, will enable students to learn new skills for the future.
“It's important to underscore that Albany High School is probably one of a dozen high schools throughout New York State that actually has a full complement of career and technical education programs within the confines of the high school,” Hochreiter said.
NYPA also donated specialized tools and a charger.
NYPA Vice President of Environmental Justice Kaela Mainsah says this donation helps further the authority’s goals.
“As New York increases its resilience and its reliance on electric vehicles, we want to make sure that all communities, particularly those that have been historically excluded, or historically left behind are equipped to participate in this new green energy workforce,” Mainsah said.
Mainsah says it’s critical with New York mandating all new passenger vehicles and trucks be zero-emission by 2035.
“The students here today are looking ahead to a future that is really- the electric vehicle will be the norm, driving in an electric school bus or public transportation that's electrified is going to become the norm,” Mainsah said.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, an Albany High School graduate, says the skills students are learning are necessary ones.
“You're getting a skill set, that whether you pursue this after high school, into college or trade school, you're going to have something you can always fall back on, that you can make extra money on the side, or you can make it a profession. But also it sets the foundation of clean energy,” McCoy said.
The Democrat’s environmental initiatives have also included an off-the-grid Department of Public Works garage in Coeymans.
“We're actually capturing the water to clean up vehicles with, we got solar panels, we have geothermal going on, we have all this have gone on saying we can do it, we can do it. And we can go electric by 2030,” McCoy said.
Patrick Whitton is the Automotive Technologies teacher at Albany High. He says as technology continues to evolve, the practical experience is key to ensuring students are career-ready.
“Ninety percent of what we do here is hands-on experience. So, we're doing actual brake jobs, we're changing exhaust parts, we're changing suspension parts. Yesterday, we had a kid with a car all taken apart on the lift changing axle shafts. And so, the challenge of getting through that New York salt and the rust is really authentic, you know, so the kids do enjoy doing that kind of work for sure.” Whitton said.
Whitton says hybrid and electric cars are completely changing the maintenance process.
“Brake jobs aren't the same anymore, you know, you have to use a computer to help you deactivate the brakes, because they're electronically controlled for, like, the parking brake. I believe this has regenerative braking. So as you're slowing down, the electric motor is creating drag to charge the battery,” Whitton said.
Complaints surrounding electric vehicles have included a lack of green power to charge them. Alexandra Derosa is a manager with NYPA’s Environmental Justice program.
“As more electric vehicles are coming online, we're making sure that our grid is becoming more green,” Derosa said.
NYPA has donated more than 20 other retired vehicles to similar programs at educational institutions across the state.
There’s also a classroom component to the auto tech program. Again, Carey.
“Once a week, we go into the class and we do a worksheet on an engine assembly or a car assembly, electronics, something like that. And Mr. Whitton walks us through the process of changing something and we go out into the shop and we work on it,” Carey said.
Which has included:
“Changing batteries, oil changes, tire rotations, standard maintenance like that is really how you can you know help save money as your life goes on. But big things such as, we pulled an engine out of a minivan last week ,and some really big tasks as well, changing transmissions, all of it,” Carey said.
As for the coolest car he’s been able to work on?
“I did an inspection on a DeLorean that was owned by a music teacher,” Carey said.
