Jerry DiLossi - also known as Mr. D., Jerry D. or Dr. D. - has been teaching auto technology to Philadelphia high school students since Hauger was in kindergarten. He and Ron Preiss deliver our NATEF certified curriculum in the following areas: brakes, electrical/electronic systems, engine performance and suspension & steering. We are the only NATEF certified school in the Philadelphia School District. This is a big deal. NATEF certification is conferred by the Automotive Society of Excellence (ASE) and is not easy to obtain.
There are about 140 students in the Auto Academy. Jerry D. teaches most of them and it is unfortunate that a pretty large percentage of them don’t have much interest in auto technology. After 37 years in the District, Jerry can’t understand why he’s teaching all these kids who don’t give a rat’s ass about cars.
If you ask many of the kids how they got to Auto, they’ll tell you they don’t have a clue. They are telling the truth. Actually, none of us really understand it, but it’s partly because our school, the Academy of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, is a hybrid. It is not a vocational school. It is not a career technical school. It is not a comprehensive high school. It is a program within a comprehensive high school.
While the Auto Academy is a self-contained operation in a recently renovated building containing academic classrooms, computer labs and auto shops, we are part of West Philadelphia High School (WPHS), a neighborhood comprehensive high school. The main part of WPHS is a hulking structure that was built in 1911 and takes up an entire city block, one street over from the Auto Academy. West has a long and storied history. Many incredibly successful people graduated from West Philly. The Speedboys won more than their fair share of athletic championships.
More recently, however, West Philadelphia High’s reputation has suffered. It is listed as a school that fails to make adequate yearly progress in standardized testing. It remains on the list of persistently dangerous schools, in spite of a dramatically improved school climate under the leadership of Principal Saliyah Cruz. The 1100 students who are enrolled at West Philadelphia High are assigned to a number of different programs, including Auto.
This means, that even if you have no interest in cars, you may get sent to Auto where you spend 2 class periods a day learning about master cylinders and air conditioners. I think about this a lot. Even though I graduated from a Philadelphia High School 40 years ago, I have vivid recollections of what I liked and didn’t like about school.
I can tell you that if I had been put in a cosmetology program or a business program when I was in high school I would have been the most obnoxious and disruptive kid in the class – if I had bothered to come to school. Dr. D. says if anybody had put him in a roofing class he would have flipped out. He hates heights.
The school day is frequently filled with kids telling anyone within earshot what they think about cars, school and anything else that comes to mind. In spite of the frustrations Dr. D. encounters in the classroom, he and Ron Preiss spend hours and hours after school and on the weekends working with the Team – kids who like to work on cars. Beyond that, Dr. D. has become our best recruiter. Sometimes his recruiting methods are a bit unconventional. He’s recruited kids who get in trouble. He’s told them he’d get them kicked out of Auto if they didn’t join the Team. He’s told kids to join the team so they can get their lives together.
The results have been amazing. The kids are incredibly hard working. They come into the shop early. They come to school when it’s closed. They stay late. This success is a testament to Dr. D’s understanding of kids. It is also about what works in education. If you give teachers and students the space to do work that is important and interesting to them, they can achieve great things. It really does work better than sticking kids in classes they hate.
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This was Ann's away message five minutes ago.
Ann's new status message - WE PASSED Technical Deliverable 2. Next 500 miles and TD3! 10:03 PM
Get ready.
Ride or Die.
The very first thing Hauger told us when we returned from our February break was that as much work we put in January, we need to put in that same amount of work in February. That was the very first thing he said to us.
So for the past couple days, it feels like January. We are after school and close to seven hours on Saturday. The cars have to be done before March 26. We need to register 500 miles on them before the technical reports are due March 30. I believe that we can get everything done with the help and participation of the team. We have finally fixed the Ford Focuse engine, and it is back in the car. We are very pleased.
Now its just a matter of time before we can get the GTM working again with all parts assembled thanks to our good friend '' Mark '' who is the man. He directed us on how to build the GTM. He was really a great help even though he was only with us for a month. We will see him soon and continue our work together.
Right now, our main focus is making the car more aerodynamic. Jeremy posted for us a Google site for the Wind Tunnel Test Plan. We need to research and write down our ideas on how to make the GTM more aerodynamic. If you have any guidance or ideas, please please let us know. Feel free to comment on this blog and share what you know. We promise we will give you credit.
Ride or Die
Daniel M.
At 4:15 p.m., I was completely brain-dead while Hauger explained the force, pull, gravity, weight, aerodynamics, wind resistance, rain drop, triangle, slippery tires, panels, cardboard, duct tape, and something else I cannot remember about the two cars. We pretty much want our cars to be as close to zero drag as possible. Right now, the Ford Focus is a 0.35. The less drag, the more fuel efficiency. I bet I was dragging at about a 12409504932948.0987656 towards the end of today.
Today was our first day back at school. Seriously, I am not complaining. I really do enjoy 150 teenagers in my life at 7:45 in the morning. I also enjoyed the additional three inches of snow interrupting first, second, and third period. Crazy enough, work was accomplished today. The sophomores and juniors finished their interim essays. I saw about 50% of my senior class during eighth period and E.B. White was gracious enough to grace the classroom with a stream-of-consciousness writing style.
The team assembled for its Tuesday meeting run by Hauger and his excessive need for aerodynamics. It is interesting to compare how the students perform during the day versus the afternoon setting. Maybe they are more active in the afternoon, because Ann provides pretzels and clementines. Maybe they are more active, because Ann describes 14 chances for them to public speak, meet fascinating people, and travel outside of West Philly during the school day. February, March, and April are very busy and important months for the team. The mechanical aspects of the cars have to be near perfection in order to participate in the next round in June. Within the next two weeks, the students will speak to Mayor Nutter, appear on a Gates Foundation video, seek tutoring from Penn engineers, and partake in the documentary filming.
It is a very challenging schedule. We wouldn't be doing any of this if we didn't want a challenging schedule. Sometimes mistakes get in our way, and we run into situations that may appear out of our control. If ever there was a time for our students to realize that nothing else matters but taking care of yourself and the education you receive, it is now. We need the students to have zero drag.
If you can, email us some of your thought on how we can make our cars more like a "raindrop." How can we make sure that we are achieving the best aerodynamics we can safely achieve in the cars?
Also, it cannot snow ever again.
Ride or Die.
Ms. R
