On Thursday, Oct. 22 in Hayden Hall, aspiring automotive and MTRK students were given the opportunity to explore Citrus College’s program opportunities.
The event was hosted by instructors David Brown, Spencer Boldt, and Priscilla Englert. In addition to the Citrus staff, there were booth attendants that presented job opportunities partnerships such as Quinn Cat Company Technician Education Programs and TEC Equipment Truck & Trailer Dealership.
Automotive instructor David Brown began the open house with an informational slide presentation and the three specific guided pathways.
“It is a structured program that’s intended to go from walking in the door to the community college and walk out the door with a career,” says Brown.
T-TEN is a two-year program for aspiring technicians to gain their Automobile Diagnostic Technician and Toyota/Lexus Technician certificate
Brown says that being a part of this program opens the door for many career opportunities, specifically in being a Toyota/Lexus technician.
Instructor Spencer Boldt also spoke of Citrus’s offered Medium and Heavy Truck program that is designed for a technician pathway specifically in diesel technology.
“[The] great thing about these partnerships is employment opportunities for students,” said Boldt.
The open house additionally featured networking prospects with Citrus Automotive partners such as Quinn Caterpillar and TEC Equipment.
Associated with the ThinkBig program in San Joaquin Delta, Quinn Caterpillar offers a similar program here in Southern California. The ThinkBig program is a two-year college training program with the goal of students obtaining an Associate Applied Science degree. They offer opportunities for automotive students through internships which then turn into a career. John Kramer, the technician development and support manager for Quinn Caterpillar, presented a portion of the tour. Kramer could not stress enough how important the maintenance of good grades and commitment to an education is just as important as a career.
“I want to pay for your school, I want to give you a full time job and I want to give you $20,000 for the tools” said Kramer to open house attendees.
The program is offered at their locations in both the CIty of Industry and Riverside. To get the benefits, students must apply to either location and go through interviews for the job.
“As long as you want to learn you can come and apply,” said Kramer.
Boldt notes that a large number of students that enroll in the Medium and Heavy Truck program tend to already be in the general automotive industry.
“Our students are often working, and need some flexibility in their schedules to come back to school,” said Boldt.
Due to this pattern, the program operates during the evening. However, students should not be discouraged to enroll if they do not have field experience in the industry.
David Brown emphasizes that, “It starts from the beginning just like all of our other programs. Start from Auto 101 and so on…”
Current students in automotive demonstrated real world scenarios at the open house that they have learned so far in the term.
This summer, Daniella Alvarado and Daniel Martinez begin their journey in the T-TEN program and within the short amount of time they have been enrolled in classes they already know how to diagnose an engine of mechanical issues such as leaks.
“This [program] has taught me so much- It took us only a couple months to learn how to read the tools,” said Alvarado.
If the assortment of slideshows, workshops and tours didn’t draw the future students in, the open house concluded with pizza and assorted drinks.
Automotive’s open house broadened the scope to aspiring automotive and MTRK students with a wide variety of resources.
