Black Hills Tire in Rapid City, South Dakota recently held its first Camp DRIVE for kids ages 12 through 15, according to a press release.
Kids that attended Camp DRIVE this year had the opportunity to learn about vehicle components through five different hands-on sessions that concentrated on brakes, electrical, engine, alignment, and tires, led by technicians with Black Hills Tire.
With 57 kids registering this year, only 25 were able to be accepted to the camp, which took place on June 9 and 10.
The guest speaker for the event was Paul Danner, a technician who has over 400,000 followers on YouTube. The local National Guard and Police Department came to speak about the benefits of gaining a trade school degree, with Snap On and Matco Tool Trucks visiting the kids during a lunch break to let them see the tools offered.
Between classes, the kids participated in tire bowling and relay races, with a Pit Crew Challenge being held as the camp’s finale.
“The goal is to grow interest in our industry,” said Tenise Chapman, Black Hills Tire co-owner and founder of Camp DRIVE. “We hope this camp shows kids our industry is fun, and it’s fun to work on cars, but you can also make a career out of it. From the millions of smiles we saw during these two days; I would say we accomplished that.”
