Things you need to consider when choosing a collision repair training facility.

Enrollment has started and there is limited class space available. This is the time of year to enroll, in order to secure your spot in the classes you wish to take in the fall. Many students put this off until the end of summer or the last minute. However, some of them will find that the classes they intended to take are full. Many technical programs, like Collision Repair, have a low student per instructor ratio, which means very limited space available. Procrastinators may lose their spot to someone else.

Why choose collision repair as a career pathway?

Hands-on: Why should your job be boring and dreadful? You can earn income doing the things you like to do. If you're someone that likes working with your hands, a high-tech environment and you enjoy being able to step back and see the results of your work; then collision repair may be a good fit for you.

High income potential: I-Car Education Foundation completed a survey, showing the average income that a collision repair technician earns. You may be surprised that the average income of $51,312 is higher then many other comparable trades. In fact, the top 10% earn $88,460. Although, just like with any career, you shouldn't expect this your first year on the job. These are the incomes you can expect to make with experience and commitment.

Job Security: As roads and highways become more populated with vehicles, the results are more auto accidents. Unfortunately, the automotive industry is not finding enough trained technicians to properly repair these modern day vehicles. This means job security for you.

Work will never be outsourced: Think about it! Could you imagine a damaged vehicle being loaded on a ship, taken overseas, repaired, and shipped back to the customer...it's not going to happen. We need trained collision and paint technicians right here in the United States, in every state and every city to repair our cars. As a technician, you will never have to worry about your job being outsourced.

What are some of the things to consider when choosing a school to attend?

NATEF certified: Make sure the school is a National Automotive Technician Education Foundation (NATEF) accredited. This gives you peace of mind knowing that the school has met the NATEF standards and is a quality school. NATEF is national recognized in the automotive industry and will give you a competitive edge, when you pursue a job. In order to be NATEF accredited, all instructors must be Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certified to teach. This means that you will have competent instructors to ensure your success in the future.

I-Car affiliation: Make sure the school is affiliated with I-Car. I-Car is an organization that helps the collision industry with on-going training. They provide training to technicians already on the job and they provide curriculum and support to colleges and technical schools to prepare students for the world-of-work. I-Car is known throughout the collision industry and will give your potential employer another perk to hire you.

Where do I find a school like this and how do I enroll?

1. Call the school to set up a time you can visit with them and ask to tour the collision repair program.
2. Is the collision program accredited? If so, who are they accredited through?
3. Are they affiliated with I-Car and what curriculum do they use?
4. Ask if one of the program instructors are available to speak with. You can ask them program specific questions. This will give you a better feel of the program and the instructors.
5. What is their student per instructor ratio?
6. Find out what requirements, tools, tuition,and fees are required.
7. Have them explain the difference between a certificate and an associates degree. (some technical schools do not offer associates degrees)
8. Does the college have any articulation agreements with any other schools, which allows the student to transfer into a four-year university?
9. Once you feel you have made the correct decision, ask them to direct you to an advisor. The advisor will walk you through the steps to get you enrolled.

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Post a commit on this blog or contact me directly and I will help you find a college in your area. The key is to act now. Waiting may cause you to lose out on this opportunity.

Here are a few resources for you:
Collision Career Video
Collision Career Information
Collision Resources

Donnie Smith
"Challenges Produce Champions"

The Discipline Problems in Our Schools from the 1940's to Now.

Why the change in students behavior over the last 70 years? By looking at history we can tell something has gone wrong with the way our children are being raised. A study performed by the Dallas Baptist University gave some of the top offences made in school in the 1940’s. These major offences included, running in the hallway, chewing gum, not putting paper in waste basket and making noise. However, these did not seem like big offences when I graduated in the late 80's. I remember fighting and alcohol being among the top offence at that time. Years later, I started teaching collision repair to high school students in 2004. This was my first teaching job and my first time to be back in a high school since I graduated. This opened my eyes to a whole new generation of kids. Top offences in schools now include every felony possible from running in the hall way to murder. In fact, here is a link to an article and video, where 9 third graders brought a knife, duct tape, handcuffs, and other items to school with the intentions to harm their teacher. This is quite alarming to me and reinforces us that we are dealing with a different group of students these days. Many people believe problems increased when most schools stopped spanking students at school. Others believe that spanking only lowers a students self esteem and produces violence. I believe both sides holds truth, but discipline must start at the home. Therefore, the same issue of spanking children exist in the home today. Does spanking teach our children discipline or not?

I know there are a lot of good books, theories and resources offering solution to resolve this issue. I know that spanking our children and Bible study have been taken out of schools, but I would like to point out what the Bible says about raising children. Here are a few verses on the matter: Proverbs 22:15 "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him." Proverbs 23:13 "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die." Proverbs 29:15 "The rod of correction impairs wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother."

By reading these verses it seems apparent to me that the Bible teaches us that we should discipline our children by spanking them. The Bible also teaches us love. If we are going to spank our children I think we need to demonstrate we love them too. If we spank our child out of anger, we teach them violence. If we spank them out of love we teach them respect. If we only threaten to spank, we teach them how to lie. However, if we follow through with what we say, we teach them honesty. Sometimes it is easier to threaten or overlook things, but if we want our children to respect and obey us, we need to be consistent with what we do and say. We can't do one without the other. For example, if we love them dearly, but never discipline them, we will spoil them. If you always give to them without asking for a small sacrifice or something in return, they will become un-thankful. However, I believe the other side is the bigger problem we face. Which is, if you discipline, insult, spank, or beat a child out of anger just to punish them, they may not understand why. Therefore, we teach them to react in anger and become out of control. I believe the schools are being populated with these three types of kids: the spoiled, the un-thankful, and the ones that feel unloved and out of control. Of course, there are a lot of outstanding students as well. However, I sincerely believe you could trace many of the problems students have to one of the above three reasons. So, I believe that spanking is effective if done correctly for the right reasons.

What else can we do to help raise our children right? I don’t think discipline and love alone is enough to assure our children will go the way we want them to. Proverbs 22:6 says "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." How do we do this? I think to "train "we need to demonstrate how by leading by example. Who are you going to trust more on your next flight; a pilot that has been flying for years and has took off and landed time after time safely, or someone that has been reading about flying and knows everything there is to know about flying, but has never actually flown? My point is, that just because you know the truth and speak it does not mean they will hear what you are saying? For instance, if you smoke and tell your child of all the hazards of smoking; are they going to hear "causes cancer" or "Mom and/or Dad does it, so it’s not that bad?" If we don’t want child to be involved with drugs and alcohol then we need to stand up and be the first to say "no" to drugs and alcohol or whatever it is we don’t want our child doing.

I know everyone does not have the same religion preferences that I do. However, I believe this method will work with or without Christan principles. If we let out children know we care for them, we love them, but we correct them when they're outside of their boundaries; while leading by example, will produce respectful kids with high self esteem. If we (the parents) can help develop our children with these core ethic skills, our schools will be filled with higher quality students making it easier for the teachers to provide them with an education.

What suggestions or comment do you have about our childerns ethics today?

Here is a video about the attack.