Harrisburg 41-2

Celebrating CTE Month with Tiger Stripes Garage

The Harrisburg School District Season 1 Episode 9

Every February, the CTE community celebrates CTE Month® to raise awareness of the role that CTE has in readying learners for college and career success. CTE Month is also a time to recognize and celebrate the achievements and accomplishments of our CTE partners at the local, state and national level.

This month, we turn the reins over to Mrs. Breanne Lynch, CTE Coordinator for the District, who will interview our CTSO advisors and student leaders. Today's episode features HHS's Tiger Stripes Garage Automotive program. Joining us are:

  • Taylor Burkett | Tiger Stripes Garage Instructor
  • Jill Draeger, HHS Senior
  • Riley Brewer, HHS Junior

Transcript 

00:00:03 JoAnne 

We're giving you more than just the 411. This is the Harrisburg 412 podcast coming to you from Southern Sioux Falls and Harrisburg, SD. 

00:00:19 JoAnne 

Thanks for joining us as our celebration of CTE month continues throughout the month of February today, we're happy to have representatives from the Tiger Stripes garage joining us on the podcast. 

00:00:32 JoAnne 

CTE coordinator Brianne Lynch takes our interview from here, all right. 

00:00:37 Breanne 

Harrisburg 412 listeners. We're back. We're going to highlight our automotive technology program and who do I have with me today. 

00:00:44 Jill 

I'm Jill Drueger. 

00:00:44 Jill 

I'm a senior. 

00:00:46 Riley 

And I'm Riley Brewer. 

00:00:47 Riley 

I'm a junior. 

00:00:49 Taylor 

I'm Taylor Burkett the automotive teacher here at Harrisburg High School and head of Tiger Stripes group. 

00:00:54 Breanne 

The tiger stripes garage alright, let's jump right in it. 

00:00:56 Breanne 

What is the tiger stripes garage and why should I know about it? 

00:01:00 Taylor 

It is our automotive program basically and we will do all the classes through that grudge and then we will also. 

00:01:10 Taylor 

Work on teachers cars with the advanced program so it's a little tweak to not only covering the material we need to, but also getting real world experience at the same time. 

00:01:21 Breanne 

So what's the craziest thing you've seen as a problem? 

00:01:25 Breanne 

Come into the tiger stripes garage. 

00:01:28 Taylor 

Well, it's just stuff balloons. 

00:01:31 Taylor 

So we work on one thing to fix something and then we find all these other problems with it. 

00:01:37 Taylor 

And then it keeps just getting added on to. So Mr. Seamer the vice principal's pickup within here. 

00:01:44 Taylor 

For a semester and 1/2 because he just kept adding stuff for us to do on it. 

00:01:49 Breanne 

That's an extensive project, a semester and 1/2 OK, so beyond tiger stripes garage we obviously have classroom content and I assume that's where we started. 

00:01:59 Breanne 

Taking classes. 

00:02:00 Breanne 

Learning classroom content. 

00:02:02 Breanne 

So is it fun to be in a class with Mr. Burkett and can you give me a little bit of insight of what the day to? 

00:02:07 Breanne 

Day and Mr. Burkett's class and shop feels like. 

00:02:10 Riley 

It's pretty fun to be in his class, mainly because he's always trying to joke with his students, and if you get the right students, they'll joke back and I'll just make the whole class just fun to be in. 

00:02:20 Jill 

Yeah, our advanced class was really fun. 

00:02:23 Jill 

We had. 

00:02:24 Jill 

It was mostly us and then a kid named Colton and it was the three of us on projects all the time and we would joke around and then Burkett would come joke with us and then make sure we were actually doing what we were supposed to and we. 

00:02:35 Breanne 

Most of the time they're doing what? 

00:02:36 Breanne 

They're supposed to do right, OK? 

00:02:36 Jill 

Usually usually. 

00:02:39 Breanne 

So what do you think has been the biggest challenge or project you have taken on in the tiger stripes? 

00:02:44 Riley 

Gradual, there hasn't been too many things where we were like, ultimately stumped on. 

00:02:49 Riley 

I feel like we could figure. 

00:02:49 Riley 

Most things out. 

00:02:51 Jill 

Yeah, if we stuck with it long enough, yeah, OK? 

00:02:54 Breanne 

You have to help out our listeners. 

00:02:56 Breanne 

They don't have as much car knowledge and automotive technology knowledge. 

00:02:59 Breanne 

As you so. 

00:03:01 Breanne 

Explain a problem or a challenging situation and maybe some of the skills. 

00:03:06 Breanne 

You use to overcome. 

00:03:09 Breanne 

So I might bring my car into you. 

00:03:11 Breanne 

And I say it's making. 

00:03:13 Breanne 

A weird sound. 

00:03:15 Breanne 

OK, how do you diagnose that? 

00:03:18 Breanne 

That's the part of the port of this class, right, Mr. Burkett 

00:03:19 Taylor 

Exactly, yeah. 

00:03:19 Breanne 

Burkett, OK, so how do we go about that - 

00:03:22 Riley 

Well, we could listen to it and depending on what it sounds like, sometimes we could use a code reader and then it would run off different codes and give off different like problems. 

00:03:33 Riley 

That could be the issue. 

00:03:34 Breanne 

OK, so that code reader pulls codes that are the same. 

00:03:37 Breanne 

As industry, yeah exactly. 

00:03:40 Taylor 

Exactly the same, so sometimes the students will take the car on a test drive as well because. 

00:03:45 Taylor 

We have to emulate that sound that the customer is describing and that they will then then decipher off of that what they need to do from there. 

00:03:55 Taylor 

So Yep, exactly and just. 

00:03:55 Breanne 

You got to emulate that. 

00:03:58 Taylor 

Of as a side and funny joke, I will try to make everyone make pieces of what it sounds like. 

00:04:05 Breanne 

So it's important, right? 

00:04:06 Breanne 

Because somebody someday, if you're a technician, is going to walk in and say my car is making this weird sound and they're. 

00:04:07 Taylor 

Exactly 

00:04:11 Breanne 

Going to try to. 

00:04:12 Breanne 

Make it. 

00:04:12 Breanne 

And you're like, oh that's the alternator, like all. 

00:04:16 Breanne 

Of the car technicians. 

00:04:17 Breanne 

Just know these things intuitively, but that has to come from practice, right? 

00:04:20 Taylor 

Yep, yeah. 

00:04:22 Taylor 

So we'll go off of that. 

00:04:23 Taylor 

And then the students will usually find out what's wrong with it. 

00:04:26 Taylor 

And then they will have to decipher how we're going to fix it as well. 

00:04:29 Taylor 

Or if we will take it on, there is some things that we don't take on just because it's too big of a project. 

00:04:35 Taylor 

We only have an hour and a half a day. 

00:04:37 Taylor 

So we have to be somewhat selective with what we do, but. 

00:04:40 Breanne 

So we get to help. 

00:04:42 Breanne 

Showcase automotive technology industry through the Tiger Stripes Garage program. 

00:04:46 Breanne 

And Mr. Burkett's instruction. And we do that through the HS car showcase. Can you explain a little bit of what happens at the car showcase and maybe your role in that previously? 

00:04:55 Jill 

At the showcase we have everything from vehicles from within the Community as well as student vehicles like I have friends that bring cars in and we'll have cars from. 

00:05:04 Jill 

People who just live in Harrisburg come in and they all just come in the parking lot. 

00:05:08 Jill 

We have, like music and a band and it helps get our program out there so that people can see that we exist and it's just fun for us to be able to look at cars that aren't falling apart sometimes. 

00:05:21 Riley 

She pretty much covered most of it, but. 

00:05:24 Riley 

Sometimes it's just more fun to see or get like more emphasis on, even if you're like trying to learn about like cars. 

00:05:32 Riley 

Sometimes going to a car show is a lot better to go to because sometimes the owners will explain about their car. 

00:05:38 Riley 

And if you ask questions, they'll answer and it's just nice to see cars that you don't see on the road like every. 

00:05:45 Breanne 

So, Mr. 

00:05:45 Breanne 

Burkett, the car show came about organically, right? 

00:05:48 Breanne 

You had students that had some cool cars and you thought me, and I gotta figure out, a way to keep these kids engaged. 

00:05:54 Breanne 

And so how did that whole story come to be? 

00:05:57 Taylor 

So a lot of kids have their niche where band has their concerts. 

00:06:01 Taylor 

Sports has their activities. 

00:06:03 Taylor 

We don't really have anything like that as an automotive program, so I wanted to bring something together that would sort of bring the students together and the Community and our Community partners all together and at once. 

00:06:14 Taylor 

So this is a thing that popped into my head and Mrs. Lynch helps us out with that a ton and we get to hopefully have a very successful year this year on May 6th. 

00:06:25 Breanne 

May 6, 4 to 7 Harrisburg High School parking lot. 

00:06:30 Taylor 

It's going to be nice out and the sun will be shining. 

00:06:33 Breanne 

The weather's going to be amazing. It will not rain. 

00:06:34 Taylor 

Yes, so it's an. 

00:06:37 Taylor 

Extraordinary activity, though I'd love to see the community partners there and have the just watch the students mingle with the community. 

00:06:44 Taylor 

And the business partners and everything like that. 

00:06:46 Taylor 

So it's. 

00:06:46 Breanne 

Awesome talking about business and industry community partners. 

00:06:49 Breanne 

I know that you take your students out on some tours, So what tours have we been on and what? 

00:06:53 Breanne 

Have we learned from those experiences? 

00:06:54 Riley 

Our first one we went to Butler machinery and the brand is cat and it's like a big diesel industry with like different construction machinery. 

00:07:04 Riley 

We kind of took a tour around there and we learned about like what they do, how much they get paid, kind of what schools they recommend and. 

00:07:14 Breanne 

So a nice glimpse into the diesel technician side. 

00:07:16 Breanne 

Yeah, all right, Jill? 

00:07:18 Breanne 

Where'd you go? 

00:07:18 Jill 

We also went to Subaru Schulte Subaru on Minnesota. 

00:07:23 Jill 

We got to tour all of the different garages they had like their main garage where they had oil changes and then just like general maintenance going on. 

00:07:33 Jill 

We also got to see their Body Shop where they were rebuilding cars that had been. 

00:07:36 Jill 

Accidents we also got to see their restoration shop rebuilding like. 

00:07:42 Jill 

Just old stuff. 

00:07:43 Jill 

They had some really cool classic cars in there. 

00:07:45 Breanne 

I decided you get to see the supply of classic cars and beautiful. 

00:07:48 Jill 

My gosh, there were so many. 

00:07:51 Jill 

Very expensive, very expensive room. 

00:07:53 Breanne 

Yeah, so programs like Tiger Stripes Garage do not come to fruition without generous business and industry partners, so Schulte Subaru has been a huge part of that. J&M transmission. Mr. Burkett. Other sponsors. You'd want to recognize. 

00:08:05 Taylor 

I mean especially for the car show several. 

00:08:08 Taylor 

It's really nice to see the community come together to support these kids. 

00:08:11 Taylor 

It's phenomenal and I would say also off of the back of all of that is Schulte Subaru provides us with cars. 

00:08:18 Taylor 

So, uhm, the students. 

00:08:20 Taylor 

A lot of the time you usually end up with junker cars from the junkyard that the kids are working on, and that they they do get learning from it. 

00:08:29 Taylor 

But it's super nice to learn from newer cars that have sensors, backup cameras. 

00:08:34 Taylor 

All the more complicated stuff that are in newer cars today. 

00:08:37 Taylor 

So they provide us with that and. 

00:08:39 Breanne 

That's pretty awesome. 

00:08:39 Breanne 

Yeah, so a ton of business and industry partners will link a big list of those. 

00:08:43 Breanne 

Below our show. 

00:08:46 Breanne 

What's the future of Tigerstripe's garage and ladies? What do you want the future of the program to be? 

00:08:51 Breanne 

So maybe five years, 10 years, you come back to Harrisburg High School, what do? 

00:08:55 Riley 

You want to see hopefully a lot more like technology. 

00:08:58 Riley 

Kind of things like electric vehicles, how to manage those and even to repair them. 

00:09:04 Riley 

If you had to. 

00:09:05 Riley 

Since that's a big part of what kind of what vehicles are becoming, hopefully there could be a larger variety of what we can possibly do by getting more a larger variety on like tools and different machinery and stuff so it could do larger projects. 

00:09:23 Riley 

Yeah, just that little. 

00:09:25 Jill 

Of course, we would always want more time, but I don't know if we're going to be able to get that with already having double periods, but just being able to come back and see that the same quality of education that we got and the same inspiration that we got from taking it a maintenance program. 

00:09:40 Jill 

We took our first class was together. 

00:09:43 Jill 

We took a maintenance program because we both just wanted to learn how to change a tire. 

00:09:47 Jill 

And now here we are. 

00:09:49 Jill 

Three years later, we've been sucked into being teaching assistants, and we're. 

00:09:53 Jill 

Testing with the automotive 2 program. 

00:09:56 Breanne 

Alright, so we can't sugarcoat the fact that two females are now leaders in your classroom and in your program. 

00:10:02 Breanne 

How does that feel knowing that you have daughters at home? 

00:10:04 Taylor 

These yeah exactly. 

00:10:06 Taylor 

These two are phenomenal. 

00:10:07 Taylor 

And the reason I'll say that is because they took my car maintenance class, which is just a class that you learned to change a tire, jump a car, all the basics, even just basic oil change so you can do it on your own in your driveway. 

00:10:20 Taylor 

You don't learn anything about the lifts or anything like that. 

00:10:23 Taylor 

They started with that class, then they realized they were interested. 

00:10:26 Taylor 

Maybe a little bit more so. 

00:10:27 Taylor 

Then they took auto one auto. 

00:10:29 Taylor 

One is the leader into auto two. 

00:10:31 Taylor 

They finished auto one. 

00:10:32 Taylor 

They decided they want to take auto two. 

00:10:33 Taylor 

They took auto two so that's two periods a day, every day. 

00:10:36 Taylor 

So you get way more time in the shop and then after that they said hey we still have time left. 

00:10:42 Taylor 

We'd like to do something else. 

00:10:43 Taylor 

So now they are peer tutors in my auto two class helping me with all the other students when we're taking on some crazy projects. 

00:10:50 Taylor 

So it's amazing to see how these two have. 

00:10:54 Taylor 

Sort of experience the program all the way through and then even then some and they started all the way from the beginning. 

00:11:01 Taylor 

Not even really knowing if they wanted to do this or not, so it was pretty awesome. 

00:11:05 Taylor 

I would also say that these two are in industry right now. 

00:11:08 Taylor 

Riley is working in industry right now with one of our community partners. 

00:11:12 Taylor 

And then. 

00:11:13 Taylor 

Jill has just decided to go to Technical College for this so. 

00:11:19 Breanne 

Which school Jill? 

00:11:19 Jill 

I'm committed to Lake Area Technical College for their automotive program. 

00:11:24 Breanne 

Do you plan on going to school Riley or do you plan to go directly to the workforce? 

00:11:27 Riley 

I'm probably gonna go to school 1st and I'm planning on Southeast Tech because I've heard a lot of positive reviews about it and one of my coworkers actually goes there right now, so I get a lot of information off of him so. 

00:11:39 Breanne 

Where are you currently working? 

Riley 

 I'm at billion Toyota. 

00:11:41 Breanne 

Wonderful so so many opportunities and just do you think this would have been a career path choice for you? 

00:11:47 Breanne 

This program didn't exist at the high school. 

00:11:49 Jill 

No, I was gonna go to art school. 

00:11:51 JoAnne 

OK. 

00:11:52 Jill 

So I did a full 180 so. 

00:11:54 Riley 

I sort of had an interest in it, but I think I'd work in the industry. 

00:11:59 Riley 

I thought I would just have like something as like a side. 

00:12:01 Riley 

Object, but I ended up getting interested by like my grandpa, my grandpa and my uncle. 

00:12:08 Riley 

So they were really big like into cars and stuff and I remember when I was younger. 

00:12:11 Riley 

I just like hand them tools or whatever and I just small interest, but I would just watch what they were doing and then slowly it build up to. 

00:12:19 Breanne 

Right now you two are awesome like I was the kid that my dad was the car guy. 

00:12:23 Breanne 

And I'd sit there and I'm like dad. 

00:12:24 Breanne 

This is so boring. 

00:12:26 Breanne 

And then I had a younger sister who was the car girl so they were super close and I was like. 

00:12:31 Breanne 

Cool, I'm going inside so I got out of some of that work, but it's really cool that you. 

00:12:35 Breanne 

Found a niche just by being willing to take a class. 

00:12:38 Breanne 

You know, challenge your thoughts about hey art school could be fun too, but I'm glad you found an interest in automotive. 

00:12:44 Breanne 

Your car portfolio might expand, it might. 

00:12:47 Breanne 

All right, well, is there anything else you'd like to share with our 412 listeners? 

00:12:52 Breanne 

Well, thanks for joining us and sharing all about your experiences in our Harrisburg Automotive technology program and your time at Tiger Stripes. 

00:12:59 Taylor 

Thanks for having us. 

 

People on this episode