High Schoolers Learning Marine Mechanics
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Mark Doll, Wawasee High School student, peers into the engine compartment for a Seadoo watercraft. Doll is one of six students enrolled in the new marine mechanics program. (Photo by Tim Ashley)
Not quite all of the boats or other watercrafts have been put away for winter storage. A few are being repaired in a room of the former Precision Automotive building on Chicago Street in Syracuse.
A grant from the Dekko Foundation enabled a marine mechanics program for Wawasee High School students to form. The program started with six WHS students in early November when the second trimester began.
Derrick Fisher, who taught in a similar program in Kendallville and was formerly a boat mechanic for Wawasee Boat Co., is the instructor. He noted the students are learning a little bit of everything in the new program.
“They are getting a basic overall view of the marine industry,” he said. “We want to get set up and get our foot in the door,” which includes learning how two and four stroke engines operate and how to properly diagnose them, how to winterize a boat and much more.
Kim Nguyen, director of the Wawasee Area Career and Technical Cooperative, said a basic outline for a curriculum is being used initially, but more is being added as the school year progresses. Other than the program in Kendallville, it is believed there is no other high school marine mechanics program in all of Indiana.
He added the program is limited in its first year to only six students because more work needs to be done to fully comply with the building codes, and that is also why it was delayed until the second trimester. A variance was obtained for now to allow the program to begin.
“We hope to do some renovations in the building during next summer and next year our goal is to have 15 to 20 students in a morning class and an afternoon class,” noting students meet for a little more than two hours in the morning each day now.
Having a marine mechanics program is a good fit in an area with numerous lakes and rivers, marinas and boat manufacturers. Students who complete the program will earn a boater education certification and can use it to work at a marina, boat manufacturer and similar operations.
Nguyen noted working at a marina is seasonal work and they are looking for workers with basic skills. “Marinas need people with a basic set of skills so they can use their more advanced technicians to focus on bigger projects and not have to train someone,” he said. And the skills learned in the program can be used in many locations, not just the Wawasee area.
Only Wawasee students are in the marine mechanics program this school year, but the intent is to eventually make it available to students from other cooperative schools.