An Automotive Education that Goes Beyond Careers in Cars

SCHOHARIE – Sometimes learning a trade is not just for launching a career in that industry.

Take for example Capital Region BOCES High School seniors Cody Vannie and Madison Miller.

The duo is enrolled in the Automotive Trades Technology program at the Career and Technical Education Center – Schoharie Campus, but neither plan to take those skills into the auto repair industry.

Rather Vannie, a Duanesburg High School, and Miller, a Cobleskill-Richmondville High School, are pursuing careers in law enforcement and environmental conservation.

“The auto program allows me to learn about repairing cars and will let me be able to save money and repair my own vehicle,” Miller said. “It’s also giving me a career to fall back into if I am not able to do what I want to do.”

Vannie, meanwhile, plans to use the skills during a career in law enforcement. 

“I am learning about all of the models of cars and what’s legal and what’s illegal. This program is giving me a better understanding of automobiles which I can use when I become a state trooper,” he said. 

There are more than 100 students enrolled in the Automotive Trades Technology program on the Schoharie and Albany campuses.

Students in the two-year program learn everything from computerized diagnostics to hands-on repairs while gaining the skills to service and maintain all types of cars and light trucks. Students are prepared to enter the industry or pursue higher education and earn professional certifications that will aid them no matter the path they choose.

For more information on the program, visit https://www.capitalregionboces.org/career-technical-education/courses-programs/automotive-trades-technology/