Eureka, Calif.--At times it seems there are about as many ways to judge an education program as there are politicians, academics, and pundits. Politicians pass legislation, academics pile on studies and conferences, and pundits blurt out whatever comes to mind.
In the middle of this incessant noise, there remains a solid way to judge the success of an education program--by what former students say about it and what they have gained from it.
By this simple standard, Larry Hansen's auto technology program at Eureka High School, as well as his after-school auto club, which focuses on racing, is a bona fide success.
"Mr. Hansen's classes were a very good first step in preparing me for what I wanted to do," said Shawn Pulver, a 2005 graduate of Eureka High School--and now, as of May 11, of the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C.
Pulver has his eyes focused on a NASCAR career. After a few weeks back home in Eureka, he will return to Mooresville for further training at the aptly named Pit Crew U, a motorsports school co-owned by Jeff Hammond, a former champion crew chief and now a Fox Sports NASCAR commentator.
"There should be many more programs like the one I went through," Pulver said of his Eureka High School experience. "The demand for fresh, well-trained techs is very high, and it is a great career. I would encourage any student to take a program like Mr. Hansen's. I always learned something in class, even if it wasn't automotive-related."
As a member of the school's auto club, a strictly evening and weekend activity, Pulver said he also gained experience, learning the basics of racecar prep and the responsibilities that come with being a crewmember and crew chief. He said those were also valuable lessons.
An award-winning teacher, and also a respected Sports Car Club of America racecar driver, Hansen has been teaching automotive technology -- auto shop in the language of days gone by--since 1976. The official name of his program, which he teaches with fellow veteran Instructor Mike Williams, is the Humboldt Regional Occupation Program ASE-Certified Automotive Academy.
Hansen said the academy's certification comes through NATEF, and this past year his classes included about 20 students. He said half those students, three girls and seven boys, participated in the auto-club program, whose designation, observed Williams, is the much simpler EHS Motorsports Club.
Hansen said the link with ASE and NATEF is an important asset for his program and his students. He added that the ASE/NATEF link requires some rigorous work and includes strict criteria, but the benefits outweigh any temporary inconvenience.
Among other things, "it means my students are one step closer to becoming ASE certified in brakes and suspension," he said. "We are also updating our certifications, and we will add electronics and engine performance shortly." Over the years, Hansen's program has drawn the interest of other California districts and educators. Most recently, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Eureka on Oct. 31 and praised the program as a model for career and technical education. Schwarzenegger said the program is one other California schools should emulate. He also reminded his Eureka audience that he is a product of his native Austria's vocational-education program and that his original career training as a salesman has served him well in life.
Schwarzenegger said communities and schools should remember that not all students aspire to a university education and that a program such as Hansen's offers them a viable path to success and to becoming a productive member of society. He said such programs also supply the skilled workers essential to a healthy community and economy.
"A school like this is a perfect example that there are alternatives, that you can actually learn a craft, that you can learn a profession," the governor said.
Schwarzenegger also praised the enthusiasm of the program's students. "It's unbelievable," he said.
Although Hansen said he is not the first combination racer-teacher in the auto program at Eureka High School, he recalled that his initial efforts to offer students an opportunity to work on racecars through an after-school auto club met with skepticism, but now that the program is established, it is well received and appreciated.
"After their second year, if they've met certain criteria, students can 'letter' and get a letterman's jacket," he said.
Not bad, if you think about it--a letter in racing.
Hansen said the club is more than an excuse to go racing. It gives his students something to focus on, and sometimes it helps them through some difficult years.
"I've had former students say the race team kept them in school," he said. "Often, there's not much out there for vocational kids. This is a real boost for them. Even my classroom kids cheer them on."
Hansen said fellow teachers across the country ask how they might begin a similar program. "I tell them to be very patient," he said. "But you have to be assertive, too. In no way would a school initiate a club like this on its own because of liability concerns."
In his own case, Hansen said the original racecar, a Datsun 200SX, was a kind of stealth project, but after the car was finished, and he held an open house, the response from the community and the school was positive.
These days, the auto club's racecar is a Nissan 350Z. Hansen said he and his students raise all the money for the club and its activities, which means that, as with many amateur-racing operations, the budget is always tight. Nissan Motorsports provided the car--the "body in white"--and it helps with parts and travel expenses for the students, Hansen said.
During Schwarzenegger's visit, Thomas Owens, one of Hansen's students, told how the program has affected his life.
"The auto program has been like a second home to me," he said, "and it taught me everything I know about cars. But it has also shown me how to be responsible and to treat this program seriously. I treat it like a job. I show up on time, in my uniform, ready to work. Or if I'm sick, I call in and tell them I won't be there, so a fellow classmate can finish the water pump I'm doing, so the customer can have their car."
As with Pulver, Owens said Hansen's program "gets us ready for the real world."
In the real world, Hansen said his students "go in all kinds of different directions," including into local shops and dealerships up and down the Pacific Coast. At least one "is employed at a Nissan dealership in Arizona because of his work on the racecar team," he said.
Hansen also said that students other than Pulver have made the trek to the Southeast. "I have a student from many years ago who is a shop foreman at Evernham Motorsports, and Ryan Zeck, a former student, won a four-year Alan Kulwicki engineering scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is also in NASCAR now."
Hansen said one of the rewards of teaching is meeting students at reunions and learning how well they're doing.
"This is a place where they can plan their future," he said.
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