Truckin’ to NTI F-150 now an educational aid
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
At one time it pulled a cattle trailer and brought produce to market, but Bill Millager's 1987 F-150 is now an educational aid. It will help young people learn the skills they need to earn a certificate and get a job as an automotive technician.
When Millager and his wife, Gwen, considered donating the truck, they thought of Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale. As one of only two remaining vocation technical schools in the state, NTI serves the entire area. Millager believes NTI is the best kept secret in the region.
It's actually the Skills Club that accepted the donation, instructor Scott Plumlee explained. Skills USA is a national organization that hosts a competition where thousands of vocational students show off their skills. Over 15, 000 people participated in Kansas City last June. Most of his automotive students belong to the club, Plumlee said. Since 1975, NTI has had a post secondary program called Automotive Service Technology where small classes of students spend about one third of their time in the classroom and two thirds working on vehicles. Some of the vehicles, like Millager's old truck, have been donated to the program, but they also work on their own cars and cars that belong to faculty. Millager's truck may be taken apart and put back together several times, Plumlee said.
Automotive service is just one program at NTI where classes range from architectural drafting to practical nursing. Most of his automotive students begin right after high school, Plumlee said, but there are always a few older students who have been out in the work force for a few years before deciding they needed additional training. It's a good mix, he explained, with the older students becoming leaders in the class.
This year, NTI, with some help from Northwest Arkansas Community College, expanded into secondary education, Plumlee said. Few high schools in the area can afford to keep their expensive automotive technology programs, he explained, so NTI gives students an option. Students spend half a day on their home campus and half a day at NTI for two years and complete the certification program as they earn their high school diploma. This year, only Springdale students are enrolled because there wasn't time to get the word out to other districts and Springdale schools had just closed their automotive program. Beginning next year the program will be open to any student in the area.
NWACC moved their automotive program from their Regional Training Center - the old West Campus in Fayetteville - to NTI this year, Dave Bowman, the program's registrar said. For some high school students, the Regional Training Center is a bridge that gets them into college, he explained.
Rogers is one of the few
But NWACC would welcome Rogers students in their secondary programs, Bowman said. The NWACC programs at various locations might be a better fit for some students, he explained.
The automotive program at NTI is accredited by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation and about 90 percent of its graduates are
Some students chose to move from NTI to the NWACC campus and complete an associates degree, he said.
At NTI there's no cost to
"It's an educational bargain," he said.
Millager is happy to see his old truck serving a new purpose and he's happy to tell people about the best kept secret in the area.
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