North American International Auto Show hosts Students (STEM Focus)

Kids make a day of it as they learn about careers in cars

Auto show hosts 5,000 students

By Tammy Stables Battaglia Free Press Staff Writer

   About 5,000 students from across metro Detroit descended on the North American International Auto Show on Wednesday to learn about automotive industry careers during the eighth annual Education Day.

   Students from preschool through high school learned about different career opportunities and the pathway of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, a current focus of the U.S. education system. They designed displays, built engines and tested concept cars,

   “We’re trying to open up their minds to STEM and how science is not just the study of cells,” said Jason Cady, teacher of the pre-engineering program at Oxford Middle School. “It’s things we use everyday — the chairs, the cars. There’s someone who thinks about those things, how they improve them, how they make our lives easier. We’re trying to get them to buy in and do this.”

   Scott Krugger, a senior manager for Chrysler Group Product Design and the lead designer of the exterior of the 2013 Viper SRT, spoke to hundreds of students about his interest in art as a kid and stumbling into his dream job as a car designer.

   “When I was growing up, I had no idea what I could do with art and there are real career paths,” Krugger said. “You don’t have to be privileged to do this. You just have to cultivate your talent.”

   Cady’s student Mike Stublensky said he was impressed by Krugger’s story of “how far he’s come from not knowing what he was going to do, to this.”

   The 14-year-old from Oxford Village said he wants to design cars. Dorian Weathersby, a seventh-grader at University Prep Science + Math Middle School in Detroit, said his visit during Education Day cemented his resolve to go into the auto industry.

   “Probably I will be in mechanical engineering because I like building things and making it work and move,” said Dorian, 12, of Detroit.

   More than 200 Detroit Public School preschoolers hosted at the auto show by the PNC Foundation’s Grow Up Great program, designed car costumes using cardboard and recycled products for a parade through the show floor.

   Hundreds of middle and high school students heard Army Maj. Gen. Michael Terry, a commanding general of the U.S. Army and based in Warren, talk about opportunities in the military. The Army’s local recruiters then held science, engineering, financial and other workshops for about 400 high school students.

   “The Army believes if you can engage students, they will be motivated to continue on in these fields,” Terry said. “We’re helping students to see potential options they may have never before considered.”

PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN GALLIGAN/DETROIT FREE PRESS

   Korynn McLean, 5, of Detroit makes a car costume as part of the PNC Foundation’s Grow Up Great program Wednesday at the auto show.

About 200 preschoolers from the Detroit Public Schools parade through the show floor.