Bring in your pooch for a spa day or your car for an oil change
Have you heard about all the great training Greenville High School students are receiving through career courses?
Starting in March, two of our most popular services – dog grooming and oil change services – will be available to the public.
"We are really proud of our talented students, and now we're taking the next step of opening up to the public," GHS Principal Heath Jarvis said. "This will add real-world customer service to their skill set."
Because the services are being offered on site by students, all customers must arrive 10 minutes before their appointment to have a background check run and to receive a visitor’s badge.
Auto Mechanics classes go beyond what's under the hood
Auto mechanic students Corbin Row and Robert Dudenhoefer say they’re looking forward to welcoming the public to their garage. Both of them have earned their professional certification in Automotive Service Fundamentals. Corbin works at O’Reilly as a parts salesman, and Robert works at the Quinlan Walmart as a Tire and Lube Express (TLE) mechanic.
“We’re proud of the work we do here,” Corbin said. “Lots of us grew up working on cars, like me. My dad and granddad are both mechanics, and I grew up working on diesel 18-wheelers. Dad works for L-3Harris now, and I want to go on to school and get my degree and work on electrical engineering. I’d like to do anything electrical – wiring airplanes, houses – the potential is endless.”
Now that they’re hanging out their shingle, Robert said the auto tech students have been talking about how to provide excellent customer service.
“We’re going to go above and beyond to make sure our customers walk out with a smile so they’ll come back,” he said. “We’ll top off the fluids and check the tires. We are going to go above and beyond.”
Small Animal Science and FFA classes open new doors for students
Down the hall in the FFA / Small Animal Science classroom, students are looking forward to providing spa days for dogs.
Beyond the sheer joy of working with dogs, several students said their FFA experiences have opened new doors for them socially and academically.
"I first started working with animals here through FFA, then I volunteered at a veterinarian's clinic where I worked with both small and large animals. That led me to my interest in medicine, and I volunteered at the hospital. Now I know that I want to become a doctor," GHS senior Eddy Yanez said.
"I also developed public speaking skills through FFA. My friend Katie Duncan and I won district for our public relations script, and we taught eighth-graders about FFA and agricultural science. We brought this bit wheel that lights up and had myths and facts debunking the myths," Eddy added.
His fellow FFA students Mya Medelin and Karleigh Russell, both juniors, remember a recent day when seven rescue dogs were dropped off.
"We learned a lot about the emotional stress the dogs experience when they've been locked up in cages all their lives," Mya said. "When they first got here, they wouldn't leave their cage. We had to be gentle with them, and we got them out and gave them all a bath and started playing with them. Before you knew it, they were playful puppies."
Karleigh said she'll never forget the change she saw in the puppies.
"It was amazing for them and for us," she said. "I look forward to this class so much because being around dogs helps me calm down. It's given me confidence, and I've developed a bond with my classmates that's different from any other class. It's inspired me to become a therapist. I think I'd like to be an ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapist and work with children with autism. They have so much to say, and I want to help them express what they feel."
Likewise, Mya says she's grown personally through the class.
"I want to go on to become a law enforcement officer. My goal is to be a sheriff one day," she said. "Before this class, I was really shy. Now that I've had the experience of going into schools and talking, it's helped me a lot."
Here is the schedule for services. Please contact the instructor in advance to set up an appointment.
