Last week, San Fernando High School’s (SFHS) Automotive Technology program was gifted a 2023 Ford Explorer from Ford Motor Company and Galpin Ford Dealership to aid students in getting an up-to-date hands-on experience in auto repair and maintenance. For the last 29 years, Galpin, based in North Hills, has been the No. 1 Ford dealership in the world. 

“This is the newest vehicle that I’ve ever received for the kids to work on,” said Mason Mellem, now in his fourth year teaching the program. He added that it will provide students “the opportunity to experience what they’re going to be [working on] when they go out into the field.”

Based out of the school’s Engineering Academy, students in the program learn about the technology that cars use, how they operate and how to diagnose and repair them. Mellem said the program equips approximately 150 students, around one-third of whom are female, with practical life skills. 

“When they leave my program, at the lowest level they understand the car that they’re probably going to own, how it works [and] how to not get taken advantage of when they’re at the shop. Maybe how to do a little bit of work on their own, save some money and save themselves a headache,” said Mellem. “At the very top, [they will] go on to have a career in this industry.”

Mellem was a technician for the 10 years prior to working at SFHS. He offers his students original equipment manufacturing (OEM) training certifications, including the opportunity to take the same certification courses that he took when starting as a technician, through Ford’s Automotive Career Exploration (ACE) program. 

“The ACE program opens up the door to vast employment opportunities in an ever-changing auto industry,” said Michele Palmer, technician champion at Galpin Ford. “One of the most valuable parts about the program is students have access to the same curriculum that certified Ford-Lincoln technicians receive.”

Students leave the program with certificates from Ford Motor Company, showing their competency in vehicles, vehicle systems and repairing vehicles.

“Having the newer technology in the schools demystifies what the vehicles are, and what it is to work on them,” added Palmer. “It’s not the grease monkey position that our parents and our grandparents worked. … It demystifies the old stereotype of what a mechanic is, versus today, they’re really automotive technicians.” 

Andrew Mota, a SFHS junior in the program, said he joined the class because since he was a kid, he always “had a fascination with cars, anything with wheels, anything that runs on a gas engine.” Although interested in gas cars, Mota said the program opened his perspective to a “whole new reality,” which includes EV, electric-hybrid and hydrogen intake vehicles.

“I’m going to have a lot of experience with old school, new school, high tech, low tech, any kind of tech motors out there,” said Mota. “Anything a vehicle might throw at me, with electrical circuitry, all the above, I am able to handle it.”

Mota said after he graduates, he is considering attending the Universal Technical Institute (UTI) or working at a local dealership to increase his hands-on automotive experience. 

“Not everyone is going to go to college – get a four-year, six-year, eight-year degree – and/or have the means to do that,” said Mellem. “This gives them an opportunity to either pursue a career in the field and support themselves, their families and their community, or support themselves while they are going to school.”

These students graduate with the knowledge and certification to secure a job as an entry-level technician, who can make anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000 a year according to Brandon Boeckmann, fixed operations director at Galpin. He added that more experienced technicians at Galpin can make upwards of $200,000 a year, making it a very lucrative career. 

“Galpin is very rooted in the community, has been since the 50s,” said Boeckmann, who is also the grandson of Galpin’s founder. “[It] actually started in San Fernando.”

However, as much as the donation was an act of goodwill toward the community, it was also an investment in the future labor force for the industry. 

“If you look across the entire country, the automotive industry is losing technicians year over year over year, because guys are aging out,” said Boeckmann. “So we need to be bringing up the youth and excite them about working on cars.” 

According to a 2021 Transportation Technician Supply & Demand Report from TechForce Foundation, a nonprofit focused on workforce development in the automotive industry, by 2025 demand for new technicians is expected to rise to 797,530 and is estimated to outpace supply by five to one.

“It truly already has affected our business,” said Boeckmann. “We are in need, Galpin is in need, the industry is in need, of technicians.”

Giving back to the community by gifting SFHS the car, as Mellem put it, is also somewhat of a “thank you for working with the students, getting them certified [and] getting them through that pipeline.”