Local Educator Louise Drow Helps Students Chart a Path to a Rewarding Career
Working with the Metro Portland New Car Dealers Association, Louise Drow offers students successful career

On the heels of 2004 commencement ceremonies, parents and community leaders are taking a hard look at dropout rates. Statewide, the annual dropout rate is now 4.4 percent, which means that 12 out of every 100 students dropout of high school. And, while more than 65 percent of Oregon high school seniors start a degree at a two- or four-year college after graduation, just a few years later more than a third will have dropped out with no degree. What does the future hold for them?

Two-Track Mentality
Conventional wisdom holds a two-track mentality about post-high school options: the academically oriented go to college and can anticipate a rewarding and well-paying career; the rest are doomed to a less affluent lifestyle.

In truth, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) predicts that by the year 2008, 85 percent of the nation's jobs will not require a four-year degree. This demand for skilled labor is no more acute than in the automotive service industry, where technology advances have stripped the available pool of talented employees. Indeed, the DOL forecasts that through 2010, the nation's automotive industry will need 35,000 people annually for new, high-paying auto technician jobs.

Automotive Industry - Oregon's Second Largest Employer
In Oregon, the automotive industry is the state's second largest employer. Recent employment department figures for the tri-county area (Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas) indicate that over the next three years alone, opportunities for auto technicians are expected to increase at a higher-than-average rate - with annual openings for nearly 200 workers - to employ more than 4,200 individuals.

Today's automotive technician is sophisticated with advanced technical training and critical thinking skills. For example, the 2004 Audi A8 has approximately 40 computers imbedded in its system and it is up to the technicians to read the code and decipher the inner workings of the car. And, from entry-level to experienced, auto technicians are well compensated, with typical annual incomes ranging from $30,000 to upwards of $100,000 for certified master technicians.

Association Works with Local Educators Like Louise Drow to Meet Demand
To help meet the demand for qualified automotive technicians, the Metro Portland New Car Dealers Association has been working with local educators at both the high school and college levels to prepare students for full-time employment in the automotive field.

Louise Drow, auto tech instructor at the Capital Center in Beaverton is one such educator helping to make a difference for many young students. During her first year of teaching, Drow's students claimed second place in the Oregon/Southwest Washington Automotive Technology competition, second in the Ford AAA, second in the Automotive and Leadership competitions at Oregon Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA), and third in the Diesel at the Oregon VICA competition. Drow and six of her students recently returned from the National Skills USA VICA competition in Kansas City. There, students learned a great deal about teamwork and synergy, and advanced closer to possible careers in the industry.

"We understand that for graduates to thrive in the workplace, they need help acquiring skills that employers demand and, subsequently, will offer competitive pay for," said Greg Remensperger, executive vice president of the Association. "We are working to break down the perception that a four-year college education is the only ticket to good employment, preparing a workforce that can meet marketplace needs in the next decade and beyond."