MARBLE FALLS — With bare concrete floors, four dusty bays and a shop dog named Gracie, Falls Garage is not a run-of-the-mill classroom.
But the 30-by-50 foot auto mechanic shop located at 815 Broadway provides a hands-on learning space for students to do just about any type of work possible on automobiles, from body repairs to restoration.
“We started about a year ago, and we’ve been open full-time since June,” said teacher, founder and Falls Garage owner/operator Mike Shine.
He uses his shop to teach high school students a two-year course of automotive training that prepares them for employment in an entry-level automotive field. “This is mostly for kids who are interested in taking a different path,” said Shine, adding the academic classroom setting isn’t ideal for every student.
“That learning style doesn’t work well for everyone. These kids are very hands-on learners. They have to put their hands on it, take it apart and then put it back together again. You can’t learn that in a book,” he said.
At the moment, Shine has eight students enrolled in his class, more than half of whom come from Falls Career High School, an alternative campus. The remaining participants travel to the garage from Marble Falls High School on a weekly basis.
Both schools are part of the Marble Falls Independent School District.
Trey Vaughn, a Falls Career High pupil, has been a devoted student at Falls Garage since August.
“I love it. I love coming every day and staying until it’s over with,” Vaughn said. “I like to be hands-on and I really want to do this after high school, to have a job working with cars.”
The value of vocational education is far-reaching, according to Shine.
“I think it’s huge. There are some kids who just aren’t going to go to college, and without (vocational education) we’re losing a lot of our blue-collar workforce. This fills a huge niche in our community. Without it, we’re handicapping our kids.”
Peggy Little, principal of Falls Career High, agreed.
“This type of program is something that is actually helping many of our kids to stay in school because they have to satisfy their academic requirements in order to participate,” Little said. “Also, if we can train our own workforce, then we’re cultivating the growth of Marble Falls in addition to the growth of our kids.”
Students participating in Shine’s class must complete a minimum of 25 hours per month at the shop, five of those hours being “field work.”
Their textbook is called “Mechanics for Dummies.” But don’t let the title fool you, Shine said — there is nothing dumb about entering a field where successful mechanics can earn as much as $100,000 a year in personal income.
Students at Falls Garage work on both customer cars and project vehicles, one of those being a 1936 Ford fire engine, originally owned by the Marble Falls Fire Department.
Shine noted that ultimately he would like to employ some of his students following graduation.
“I think one of the most important things that I teach is how to listen. Most kids haven’t seemed to learn that,” said Shine, explaining that one perennial exercise is explaining a fictional scenario to students and having them diagnose the problem based on his comments.
Shine’s shop is a registered nonprofit organization, but he runs it as a business as well.
“The business part came about because I learned that if a kid wants to obtain his certification, it is required that he complete two years of work in an auto-repair shop,” he said.
Shine said that customers like his rates because they are roughly $25 less than most mechanics charge, but most projects do take a little longer than usual because they are handled by student mechanics under his supervision.
Shine added that all of the money that comes into his program stays in the program with “leftovers” set aside to support his most promising students.
Although Shine’s curriculum is mostly nuts and bolts, it does extend beyond auto mechanics. As a teacher, Shine touches on life skills such as accountability and responsibility, which translate readily into real-life scenarios. He even stresses interview basics such as a firm handshake, tucked-in shirt and good eye contact.
“Each year, I ask students to make a commitment to being here. If they miss a day, they have to make up a day. And if they’re not prepared for class, there are consequences,” said Shine, adding that in his classroom, just like in real life, excuses don’t get the job done.
