By DEBORAH BEHRENDS
Indiana Correspondent LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An agricultural industry-education collaboration has yielded several positive outcomes for Kentucky college students. Over the course of a two-year program, men and women studying automotive technology at Owensboro Community and Technical College built a 1969 AC Cobra replica. After being used as a recruiting tool for the college, it was sold to the Kentucky Corn Growers Assoc. (KCGA) as a traveling show piece to tout the benefits of ethanol. "It's a marriage of two good priorities that seem to fit well with each other," said Adam Andrews, KCGA programs director. "After the car was completed, we kind of shared it for a couple of years until they were ready to start the second one. We purchased the car to provide seed money for the next car.” He said the association won't buy every car, but called it a phenomenal tool to start conversations. "We can take this car so many places to start the conversation about what the corn growers are doing. The industry, from the top down and bottom up, has to understand what ethanol can do. Anytime we can find a set of ‘gearheads,’ that car will draw a crowd." Among the many events where the car does draw crowds are tractor pulls, the February National Farm Machinery Show, and NASCAR races at Kentucky Speedway and Gateway Motorsports Park. NASCAR has partnered with American Ethanol since 2010. The educational part of the partnership had its inception eight years ago when OCTC Dean of Admissions Mike Rogers arrived from South Carolina. The college he came from had a similar program, and he brought the idea with him. "We presented it to the foundation, and they supported it from the beginning," Rogers said. "We went out and worked with folks such as the corn growers as partners. It's a great fit for ethanol and the corn growers – a high-performance fuel for a high-performance automobile." Fred Wright of OCTC's automotive technology program said his students built the car as part of their class work in the two-year course. The top 20 percent of students in each of the program's classes were allowed to work on the car, and Wright estimates 30-40 students were involved. "Students' grades went up because they wanted to work on the vehicle," Rogers explained. "We saw students want to come back in the evenings to work on it. They wanted to go to recruiting events with us on the weekends. It's something they could be proud of out in the community." Not only did the corn growers provide 80 percent of the funding to purchase the kit, with additional sponsors pitching in, the KCGA purchased the finished car after the college used it for two years as a recruiting tool. "Our goal is to sell the car and put profits back into student success," Rogers said. With the sale, he said "the foundation got their kernel back," and the college established a scholarship endowment. He added the program will continue not only to grow scholarship funds for student success, but also will continue to promote the program to show what OCTC students are capable of accomplishing. "To see the students grow from it, that's what it's all about," Rogers said. Wright said a second car is being built by his students now to continue the process. Andrews said the association has endowed scholarships at OCTC so students get an education about ethanol. "We feel it's such a unique set of science that goes into the engineering. To understand the power of ethanol, you have to understand the engines built for ethanol. It's rare to find educators that understand that," he said. "There are plenty of engineers at the automakers that understand this, but they don't come out of auto tech program; they come from engineering schools. Sometimes there's a disconnect – an education gap – that doesn't translate from the manufacturer's newest technology into the grassroots structure. "There are better opportunities to educate future employees through the school system to transfer and update how these sophisticated engines work. The crux of the program is to prepare them for what they'll see," Andrews added. He said another program at OCTC is the result of a collaboration with corn growers in Kentucky, Missouri, and Illinois that commissioned a study to run different brands of ethanol to look at engine wear, emissions, and more. "We've shared that conversation with other tech schools where instructors might not be as bullish on ethanol, and it's changed the logic of a lot of people. It's a great program to help old habits die," Andrews said. "It's all about ethanol acceptance. We've got to have that." |
