Old Colony Students Participate in State Competition

Sam Morse of Rochester and Brendon Senior of Carver have already cleared a major hurdle on their path to professional excellence. On January 16, they successfully completed the written portion of the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation’s annual competition. Having pulled through those riggers, they advanced to the hands-on second half where they tested their ability to handle stress while employing their technical skills as partners.

On February 6, these students, along with students from nine other vocational high schools, met to compete at Massachusetts Bay Community College in Ashland. The second and final part of the competition required identifying the problems, solving the problems, and fixing them. No small feat indeed when one considers all the variables.

Morse and Senior are seniors at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School in Rochester. On many levels, these young men are already professionals in the field of automotive repair. Both have participated in cooperative programs that allow students to work outside the school walls in their chosen field of study.

Morse and Senior have both been employed by a Toyota dealership. But moreover, critical thinking skills along with practical application of those skills have been honed by the curriculum at OCRVTHS bringing these two students to the heights of achievement in automotive repair.

“Critical thinking starts in the freshmen year,” explains Jackie Machamer, assistant principal. She said vocational schools have changed over the years and are now recognized for the importance placed not only on vocational skills but also on academic studies. “Today, if a student wants to pursue a four-year college placement, we can do that,” Machamer said.

Whether the student wants to matriculate directly into the workplace after graduating from school or wants to continue their education in other settings, Machamer was clear that, with a vocational school program, all things are possible.

Twenty-two year instructional veteran Dennis Frates said Morse and Senior have been continuously performing at a high level since their freshmen year. He explained that OCRVTHS is a small school with small classes, but it sets high standards at every level.

Both Machamer and Frates, along with John Mare, 16-year automotive instructor, stressed the importance of ensuring that the students receive a well-rounded educational experience at OCRVTHS. The trio also expressed that their students are assisted every step of the way to reach their individual goals.

As for Morse and Senior, they exuded cool, calm demeanors on the eve of the competition. Senior shared that he hoped for the best on Saturday, while Morse said, “This is nothing new to us.”

Yup, just another day of troubleshooting car problems, fixing them, and moving on to the next challenge.

The students’ education requires that they not only understand the complexities of vehicles loaded with electronics, mini-computers and the like but also the sophisticated diagnostic tools employed in the process of repairing automobiles. Add to that the pressure of a competition, and it’s easy to see how some might not be up to the challenge. For Morse and Senior, however, their ability to handle it all has been fostered in an environment geared towards proficiency at every stage of learning.

Old Colony has never won first place in this competition, but it has succeeded in participating in the Massachusetts regional event for the last 25 years earning several respectable second place standings. And, although Old Colony didn’t walk away with the coveted prizes this time, the experience of participating and the memory of the effort necessary to get them as far as they did will remain with Morse and Senior for the rest of their lives.

“We may not have won, but it was an honor to participate in the competition to that degree,” Morse said.

By Marilou Newell

Old-Colony

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