Huntsville High School Auto Tech

I want to say congratulations to Kenny Lewis. He won grand champion in the digital car show we had last week. About 90 students used an online website to create a completly customized vehicle and students vote for the winners of each class and then those winners compete for Grand Champion. Kenny won first place in his class and then Grand Champion, his prize was a Canes gift card.

HHS is proud to showcase three Huntsville High students for signing up to attend WyoTech, a leading automotive trade school, after HISD graduation.

I want to congratulate Josue Melgar, Samuel Linares, and Jonathan Parada on taking this important step in continuing their education and securing a future in a high caliber trade.

Today, Alex, Ethan, Dylan, and Jamie, who are in Dual Credit Auto Tech 1, were inspecting a van with a check engine light. They were able to diagnose that it has a stuck open thermostat, which is not allowing the engine to reach its correct operating temperature. They also looked for preventative maintenance that could be done so it will continue to run well for years to come. Also, without leaving the shop they were able to create an accurate quote ticket with parts and labor for the customer.

We try to show students all aspects of the industry from porters to the owners and every job in between. Next week our customer will provide us the parts and we get it reliably back on the road.

Saturday March 5th, Luigi Santos and William Smith competed in the Top Tech Challenge put on by Universal Technical Institute. They competed against other schools in various automotive related competitions including electrical, HVAC, battery testing, brakes, and written ASE style tests. They did amazing!! Out of 50 teams they came in 5th place and each won a $1,000 dollar scholarship to UTI. I am so proud of my students for doing so well in such a large competition.

We took 25 auto tech students out to tour local shops in the community today.

We started the day at Wiesner of Huntsville where the kids were given a tour of the body and service shops as well as the large auto parts department. We all left wearing shiny new Wiesner hats.

Then we headed to Amaya’s Collision Center to see how independent body shops operate and check out their state of the art tools and equipment. Each kid left with some cool Amaya’s swag.

Our last stop was Bill Fick Ford who provided the students a much appreciated wide variety of pizza for lunch. We then received a comprehensive tour of their large facility Including the body shop, service shop, and quick l**e center and also the new and used car sales departments.

We very much appreciate these local businesses taking time out of their busy schedules to help inspire future careers in the always relevant automotive field.
Wiesner of Huntsville
Amaya's Collision Center, Inc.
Bill Fick Ford

Mac Louther, Hailey Peal, and Patrick Tomlinson are checking a teacher’s vehicle to see if we can find out why it’s low on coolant.
They had to remove the covers in order to pressure test the system and diagnose what in this case, is a leaking radiator.

Here in Huntsville High School Auto Tech, after we diagnose a vehicle in the shop, we head back into the classroom to the computers and look up the parts and supplies needed for the repair.
We check the availability and cost of the parts, look up the estimated labor, and then write a quote for the customer to review and approve before moving forward with repairs, just as a professional shop does.

Hailey is looking up the parts on the First Call Online website through O’Reilly Auto Parts to begin building a quote.

HHSAT Instruction mimics the industry exactly as to prepare students for a career in the automotive repair industry.

You have to love torque angle measurements. Here Will Smith and Michael Ray are finishing up rebuilding Will’s 6.0 liter Chevrolet. Trying to get it done before we get out for summer.

Rear axle swap time. Some of HHS Auto Tech’s advanced students, Will Smith, Juliet Gonzalez, and Michael Ray, are swapping a rear axle in a Chevrolet. But first you have to pull the gas tank to get at the last leaf spring bolt.

Students are bringing some new life back to these old headlights. They are learning all about our new 3M headlight restoration kit.

There was a student with a flat tire in the parking lot, so Huntsville High School Auto Tech was off to the rescue. From left to right, Alejandro Hernandez, Ka'Darius Major, and Abraham Herrera, changed the tire for them and they were all set to drive home.

600! That’s how many small plastic rollers are under the slip plates of our Hunter Alignment Rack. Here are the students performing our twice-yearly lift maintenance. The year is moving right along. We are on to learning about Alignments and suspension next.