Automotive career program opens in new Falls facility
Collision Repair and Auto Refinishing, the newest career program in the Six District Educational Compact, opened last week in a renovated, state-of-the-art facility located in the downtown Cuyahoga Falls. Twenty-two students from the Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Kent, Stow-Munroe Falls, Tallmadge and Woodridge school districts are enrolled. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception, attended by administrators and board of education members from the six districts, took place August 21 in conjunction with the Compacts annual meeting. Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Robart, along with other local dignitaries, took part in the festivities.
The Compacts first career program offered at an off-site location away from one of our high schools, explained Dr. Jeff Graham, the superintendent of the Woodridge Local Schools, who served as master of ceremonies. Woodridge Schools helped develop the new career program with financial assistance from the Jacob and Clara Faber Community Enrichment and Education Foundation. Jack Faber, who died in 2000 at age 92, owned and operated Jack Faber Body and Paint for more than 50 years at 1872 Front St. in Cuyahoga Falls where the new educational facility is located. According to Guy Klapp, director of the Faber Foundation, the foundation was established by Clara Faber, Jacks widow, as the family’s way to give back to the Cuyahoga Falls and Woodridge communities who supported their business for many years.
An immigrant from Denmark, Faber came to the United States during the Great Depression and later served in the U.S. Army for three years during World War II. Jack was a self-made man who helped many people over the years, Klapp says. Mary Jane Stanchina, executive director of the Six District Educational Compact, says she is enthused about the career pathway possibilities for students enrolled in the two-year career program. Our students will be prepared for careers in this $30 billion industry where jobs are on the increase due to the way todays cars are designed, built and finished, she explains. By having the latest equipment and this fabulous facility, our students will be on the cutting edge in the collision repair field. Instructor Randy Bramel is ASE certified and joins the Woodridge staff with a number of years of experience to teaching in the Collision Repair and Auto Technologies field. Using the NATEF certified curriculum, students will learn frame inspection and repair, welding, working with plastics and adhesives, painting and refinishing, glass installation and metal working, as well as damage repair, auto restoration, structural and non-structural analysis and cost estimating. In addition to overseeing 23 career programs, the Six District Educational Compact provides a number of services and resources for more than 25,000 students, as well as teachers, staff and community members in the six districts.
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