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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 familys
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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