April 5, 2019—High school students learned about the automotive industry during "Transportation Day" at Lenoir Community College in Kinston, N.C. According to a report from The Free Press, around 100 students from Lenoir, Greene, and Jones counties visited the school during the April event.
According to David Pearce, chairman of LCC’s Automotive Systems Technology Program, students were showed various demonstrations that could later be taught at the college and be taken into the automotive industry.
“We do everything we can to put things in their hands to make them more attractive to the customers, which boils down to the shops, and there is a tremendous need for this in Kinston,” Pearce said to The Free Press.
“We get calls, literally, weekly looking for technicians,” said Pearce. "There’s a shortage of technicians that have some skills. The nice thing is all the common skills that all the shops need—tire handling, balancing, alignment and of course just general service—that’s our first-year program."
Automotive instructor at Jones Senior High School, Donald Merritt brought 14 students to Transportation Day.
“I love this program,” Merritt said to The Free Press. “I think it is very good for the students to come and see this and to be part of it and I believe they are going to get a lot out of it.”
