Most students and teachers at Morton East didn’t (and still don’t) know Morton East has a real mechanics class — like with cars, car lifters, big mechanical toolboxes, impact wrenches, etc.
Our auto teachers have gotten surprised comments from people who didn’t know we had this class. These types of classes can help students who want to pursue a career working with cars. They also have an after-school club called Auto Club, where they just work on cars. They even help do basic car maintenance work like oil changes and brake bleeding all for free; you just must buy the replacements, and they have the tools, which is convenient, knowing oil changes are usually recommended to be changed every 5,000 to 7,500 miles (www.aaa.com). All you need to do is walk in and ask. Did you know we have a total of 291 students enrolled in auto mechanics? Of all those students, 38 are females and 253 are male. In a random survey of 117 Morton students and teachers, 83 of them reported they did not know we had a real mechanics class, while the rest of the 34 people did know we had one.
“Usually when I tell a teacher I’m a mechanics teacher, they’re surprised we even have one. And even after I tell them, they think it’s a regular small class with no tools or equipment. They don’t know we actually have machines and work on cars,” said Mr. Martinez, an auto mechanics teacher at Morton East.
We even have students express their fascination passing by the class while the door is wide open, since the classroom is in a garage.
“WHAT?! WE ACTUALLY HAVE A MECHANICS CLASS HERE?!” an anonymous student exclaimed as they walked by the class coming late to school.
Most students are very interested and relieved we have this class and Auto Club and feel they will benefit from this.
“It’s cool; I can go to Auto Club after school to get my oil changed. They used to tax me at real mechanic shops which made me lose more money than I should’ve,” said Jovanni Olmos.
But, East’s auto shop doesn’t just change tires, filters and oil.
“I usually go to Auto Club to put customizations on my car. I always buy the stuff first and use the club’s tools to make the repairs,” said Andres Gomez.
So, if you’re interested in joining Auto Club, join. There are not many people enrolled, so your chances of getting that class are high.
Assistant principal Dr. Michael Parrie stated, “For level 1, there are 29 females and 177 males. For level 2, there are 9 females and 177 males. For level 3, there are 0 females and 18 males.”
