Ontario High School Students Partake In Special Program.

Ontario, CA – February 14, 2006 – Ontario High School students received a glimpse of their possible future when they visited the BMW Regional Training Center and the Savage BMW dealership on Friday February 10. The students are members of Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES), a partnership among automotive manufacturers, participating dealers, and selected high/prep schools.

The students first visited the BMW Western Region Training Center in the morning. Ed Huzyak, Regional Aftersales Manager, gave a presentation about the future growth of BMW and the need for more technicians. Several slides of new facilities and their workshops were displayed during the presentation.

The next presentation was by Charles Austin, Technical Training Leader. He spoke about the technology in today’s cars and the need for quality technicians. There are now more than 104,000 jobs available at franchised dealerships, a recent survey by Automotive Retailing Today (ART) found. The students then took a tour of the Training Center, which included a lesson and inspection of the new BMW M5. The students were very excited to learn about the car. Finally, the class was brought into a training room where Mr. Austin demonstrated diagnostic equipment on several vehicles.

The group next traveled to Savage BMW, where they took an extended tour of the facility and the service areas. The students were invited to interact with the technicians on duty to find out more about the job, responsibilities and benefits of being a technician in today’s automotive world.The dealership provided a barbeque lunch in the service drive for the future technicians and the entire staff. In this informal atmosphere, the students were able to get a clear picture of what life is like working in a BMW dealership.

Qualified high school juniors are invited to take part in AYES. In addition to taking the required academic courses toward their high school degrees, they take challenging classroom/laboratory courses in basic automotive technology or collision repair & refinish. Typically, eligible students will begin their internships at a dealership on a full-time basis during the summer between their junior and senior years. Under the guidance of a "mentor" (an experienced technician), they'll develop both their technical skills and their skills as valuable employees. Upon high school graduation and AYES certification, participating students are prepared to begin full-time entry-level employment, or to advance their technical education.