A failure of the original inground hoist, which was installed in 1974, in the auto shop at St. Francis High School created an expensive problem — but recognizing the educational value auto shop classes provide, the school and the district collaborated to bring double the opportunities for students.
“I'm very grateful for everything I have access to,” said Noah Bliskowski, a senior at SFHS. “I enjoy hands-on work and these classes have really laid the foundation for it.”
To enhance the student experience, Industrial Tech Teacher Scott Robinette, who wrenched on cars as a student at SFHS, was able to negotiate two hoists for the price of one. The hoists were installed during winter break and after proper inspection, were operational during the second trimester. View photos of the new hoists in action.
“With the new lifts we can showcase what's wrong on different vehicles and then come up with a plan to fix it,” Robinette said. “We are able to expand their knowledge because of the diversity of the problems.”
Investing in the infrastructure in the auto shop allows the students the opportunity to learn in a state-of-the-art and industry standard facility.
“The introduction of these two new lifts provide a lot more hands-on experience because it fits more cars in here and gets us more work underneath the vehicle,” Bliskowski said.