York’s Auto Club helps students explore passions
February 25, 2020
Many high school students struggle to find their niche. Auto Club is a unique opportunity for students who aren’t involved in either a sport or an art to gain work skills and meet people with similar interests. Auto Club was created to target students that were interested in being involved, meeting new people and working hard to accomplish a final outcome. Auto Club gives these students a place to work and feel comfortable.
“Auto Club was developed for at-risk students, and the majority of the students were kids that just needed a place to be,” Auto Club sponsor Ronald Robak said. “What we do here is give students an identity.”
Any club that is offered at York should be fun for the students in it; however, Auto Club has some of the most unique ways for students to enjoy themselves.
“People should join the Auto Club because we get to work on cars that come in and build Go-Karts,” junior Cole Zielinski said. “People even bring in ATVs and dirt bikes that we can ride around [on] in the back”.
In addition to some fun memories, Auto Club also gives students the opportunity to learn practical knowledge through both physical work and observation.
“Down here we do a lot of different things from body collision repair to welding and from working on dirt bikes and ATVs to Go Karts,” senior Michael Cook said. “I like it. It helps out for the future and for saving money by learning how to do your own work on your own vehicle.
Students can take the information that they learn in Auto Club and use it for the rest of their lives in careers or on their own vehicles.
“You learn a lot of unique skills that you can use later on in life,” junior Kessler Dayton said. “The little skills are the things that really matter.”
The auto shop is a great place to get work done; it is usually filled with multiple vehicles, unique tools, equipment and car parts which makes it completely unique from every other environment in the school.
“It’s a great place to work,” senior Evan O’Donnell said. “You learn a lot about cars, building things and putting a bunch of small things into one big project to see a final outcome. It’s also great to just meet new people.”
Auto Club helps students gain valuable experience through working on all the vehicles that come in the shop, but it also helps them to find an identity.
“The best part about Auto Club is just the people that you’re around, because they just have fun with you while you’re doing the projects you need to do,” sophomore Erik Barishman said.
