"I started tinkering with cars first, but I wanted to learn more," he said. Williams is also a mechanic at Village Service Center, a repair shop in Thomaston. "He was up against a lot of seniors, and he did really well," he said. "It's great experience."īurrell won second place in this year's Skills USA competition, which is rare for a junior, Sarta said. "The work we get to do is awesome," he said. Royals is great, and Mr. Sarta's the best thing to happen to this school," he said.īurrell, a diesel mechanic at Torrington Diesel, believes he's getting the best experience for his career. When I was in middle school, I knew I wanted to come here. Ledda, who works for a Goshen fabricating and welding company, said, "I'm a gearhead, and I learned about cars from my dad (the late Paul Ledda Sr.). When Noelke came to pick up his truck, Royals was there, beaming with pride.īurrell, Ledda and Williams were three of the students who worked on the truck, along with seniors Jace Lyons, Ryland Cardillo and John Alexander. Sarta was hired, and Royals is still part of the auto shop family, working as a substitute teacher. Ray Royals, who retired in 2022 after teaching at OWTS for 34 years, is Sarta's mentor and encouraged him to apply for his job. Then one day about two weeks ago, Sean calls me up and says, 'We got it!' and it was such a relief." Noelke said, "There was a point where I thought we were just going to bag it. "There was no procedure to follow to get John's truck running," Sarta said. "We tried different things to get it going," said junior Duncan Williams. "It just wouldn't go," said junior Adon Burrell. Once the engine was installed, the wiring completed, and the connections made, the truck started, but there was no power. "We spent time figuring out what parts we needed and got those parts," said junior Paul Ledda. So Sarta and his students continued to work on it between other jobs. The shop students and teachers didn't abandon it, but replacing an engine is a big job, and the truck also needed other repairs. "By this time, we're into February, then March," he said. Noelke said the dealer took it back and sent another engine. But when it arrived, the engine was faulty and had no compression. In January, he had the truck towed to the high school's auto shop and ordered an engine from a parts dealer in Massachusetts. So I thought, why not call the high school? They do auto repair." "This guy was great, and he knocked it down in four days. "I had my furnace replaced by a guy who was also a graduate of OWTS, and I found him after I called some other places, and they said it was too big a job," Noelke said.
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