Under the HOOD
The Newsletter of RPM Foundation • Yes, She Can!
Message from the President The “Bring Back Shop Class” movement – started by The Collectors’ Foundation in January 2012 – got the national conversation going about the void created by the changing philosophy of education in the late 1970s and 1980s. With the focus on four years of college for all students, schools minimized hands-on education in the trades and started closing shop programs at the high school level. This cultural shift caused education for artisans and trade workers to be overlooked, which matters to RPM Foundation. It has shaped who we are and what we do. There are a vast number of restoration positions being vacated by retiring workers and an inadequate pipeline of workers to replace them. Addressing this throughout the 2000s, some schools filled the void with robust automotive programs in expansive state-of-the-art facilities, funded mostly by large corporations and training large numbers of students as automotive service technicians. East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT, Mesa, AZ) is a good example of a county vocational program servicing 10 school districts and offering an outstanding automotive program with 200 students in an exceptional facility.
PHOTO GALLERY
Abigayle Morgan (hometown: Lansing, IL) is enrolled in the McPherson College Automotive Restoration Technology Degree Program. She was The Kids' Choice Award Winner at the McPherson College Annual Car Show on April 30, 2016! Abi is an RPM scholar and a summer intern at LeMay America's Car Museum.
RPM continues our longstanding tradition of proactively looking for young people interested in collector cars and schools teaching automotive restoration & preservation. We know that if a school has 200 automotive technology students, 10-20 of them have “heritage in their hearts” – and they deserve our time and attention to learn from us about career possibilities and what they need to do to get shop-ready. By sharing resources and mentoring high schools and colleges, RPM is inspiring, influencing and shaping restoration curriculum across the United States, and impacting the educational pipeline upstream and downstream. There is a lot to do, and we’re getting it done! See you along the way,
Michele Fox, founder of Riding With Us (Brooklyn, NY), in front of her classic 1968 Camaro. Riding With Us offers scholarship programs and provides educational and mentorship opportunities in the automotive field to empower young people to give back to their community. Michele works with local public high schools that have existing automotive programs and offers after-school programs to students interested in restoration & preservation.
Diane Fitzgerald, President
“I love representing the RPM Foundation because it's all about opening the eyes and doors of opportunity for young people into our world of restoration, preservation, and racing! Students, teachers, historians, shop owners, car collectors – virtually everyone is part of this important initiative. Get on board and support RPM!” Lyn St. James judging the race car class at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance
—L yn St. James, Indy Racer, RPM Ambassador since 2014
Sarah Hebard is RPM’s Interim Executive Assistant and car-guy in training. She graduated from DePaul University (Chicago, IL) in 2014 with a double bachelor’s degree in English and Art, Media & Design. It was through volunteer work as a writer that Sarah met Diane Fitzgerald, who introduced her to the exciting world of restoration and collector cars – not to mention manual driving!
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