Leroy Myers is the Automotive Technology Instructor at the Kenneth ‘Honey’ Rubenstein Center in Davis. Myers’ shop operates through the simulated workplace model and cadets learn about working in a business. On Wednesday, the cadets took their test to become certified automobile inspectors in West Virginia.
By Beth Christian Broschart
The Parsons Advocate
DAVIS – Cadets at the Kenneth “Honey” Rubenstein Center in Davis received a great opportunity Wednesday. Rubenstein Center Automotive Technology Center instructor Leroy Myers said the students had been studying and on Wednesday, each of the cadets passed the state test and are now certified automobile inspectors in West Virginia.
Instructor Leroy Myers said he schedules the testing for about every 90 days for the cadets.
“The officer comes in and gives the cadets the test for the state inspection license,” Myers said. “When the cadets go to get a job, it gives them an edge. If two people interview for the same job and one has a state inspection license, he would likely win out over someone who is not certified.”
Myers said it can be difficult to receive a state inspection license.
“You must wait until they schedule a test and sometimes you have to drive a good ways to get to the testing sites,” he said. “Mark Cunningham comes to the center and gives our tests. He is a retired West Virginia State Police Officer.”
Myers said there are many requirements to the state inspection license.
“In order to get your license, you must be 18-years-old and must have a valid West Virginia driver’s license. You have to have two years of experience or a vocational completer’s certificate,” Myers said.
Myers said all of his students passed the test this past Wednesday.
“When Cunningham sets up and gives the test, we allow folks from any other shops in the area to come in and take their test with the cadets,” Myers said. “Performance Motors sent two over to test with us and one other person from the facility maintenance department took their test. So there were three outsiders who took the test with the cadets.”
Rubenstein Center Principal J.R. Helmick said the Automotive Technology Center is a simulated workplace site.
“We are training cadets to replicate work in the work site. We are training the students for jobs once they leave here. We are preparing them to leave our facility and obtain work in the automotive field,” Helmick said. “The simulated workplace transforms the career and technical shops or labs into a real live working environment. It shifts the responsibility from always being on the instructors and administrators to giving students active roles in participating in the day-to-day activities of the shop.”
Helmick said the simulated workplace model is a culture shift.
“It is shifting the day-to-day operations from the adults over to the students,” he said. “It teaches the students responsibility. One of the things the employers used to say is we do a good job training the students on the content, but they have difficulty thinking for themselves, articulating and communicating. We are using the simulated workplace to teach these soft skills.”