Auto Shop is one of two ROP classes offered at Washington. The class has earned an amazing reputation because of its memorable teacher of 17 years, Mr. Nahale. His loud, funny, unique personality draws many students to his class. In 2017, Nahale earned ROP Teacher of the Year! Before that, in 2014, his class earned 4th place out of 170 schools nationwide in a competition through Facebook, winning $7,000 towards their program. Not only is Auto Shop a popular class to take, it also teaches relevant and valuable lessons that every student should learn before leaving for college and embracing life on their own.
Auto Shop is connected with Chabot, so students are able to earn college credit through this course. In Auto Shop 1, the first month and a half is safety training, which then progresses into more hands-on topics like tire rotations, changing light bulbs and tail lights, checking batteries, and checking the brakes. The second semester covers a variety of topics that prepare students for Auto Shop 2, where they get to study car electronics and dive deeper into car mechanics. Auto Shop also hosts an annual car show. Students help in various ways, and can even earn community service hours by doing so.
Anderson Dang, a junior at WHS, is an Auto 1 student. He urges you to take this class because you are given lots of information on the industry, and get to listen to guest speakers from several different career fields that provide useful advice for your future. Dang says, “There are lots of opportunities. If you don’t know what you want to do, this is a good chance to figure it out. You’ll find lots of jobs here, not only working on cars. It’s a good experience.”
If you are looking for an enjoyable class that is relevant and useful in life, Auto Shop is the class for you. Nahale warns us, “If you don’t have cell service and your car breaks down, you have to really depend on yourself to survive. And we’re so dependent on our cell services and the conveniences of the technology we have today, what happens when you don’t have it?”
Ashley Tosh was born and raised in Fremont, California. This is her second year at the paper, and she is the Hatchet’s Editor in Chief. As a staff reporter last year, she often covered news and sports stories, and she always tried to find topics she was passionate about to report on. She was also The Hatchet’s Political Columnist. In the future, Tosh hopes to become a professional journalist and use her voice to make a difference in the world. Tosh has played sports her entire life, but she has a special love for softball. She dreams of playing softball in college, and uses this to motivate her in every aspect of life.