For seventeen years, consumer auto has been a class for Westside students to learn about the basic maintenance of a vehicle. The course is taught by instructor Tyler Foster. The class meets twice a week, one of these class times is used to travel to Meyer’s Auto Shop for hands on experience.

The class is an introduction to what you need to know about your car, it’s a class for students who don’t know anything about cars to students who want to be able to work on their own car more.

“It’s a class that everyone should take. You get a chance to learn about all of the basic maintenance of the vehicle, insurance, buying and leasing, how vehicles operate and more. The goal is to make educated auto consumers,” Foster said.

Meyer’s Auto Shop is located on 90th just south of F street. This is where students can acquire skills through experience in an outside of school environment. Dwayne Meyers is the owner of the shop that accommodates these students into his work space. In the past, he has had students removing wheels, look at breaks, testing car batteries, and even learning to change the oil in a car. Meyers is known to incorporate hands on opportunities and experiences for when students want to be engaged.

In the past, Westside High School had their own full service auto shop with it’s own car lifts and supplies. Students were able to learn about consumer auto in this environment on campus.

The auto shop was closed when it became difficult to find a teacher that was dedicated and had the right certifications to teach it. Another component was that once car technology became more expensive, it was hard to pay for every year.

For students who want to go more in-depth than a beginning consumer auto course, Westside offers classes for seniors at Metro Career Academy. Credits are earned through the duel enrollment program. Classes that students can take to further their education include: Automotive Technology, Auto Collision Technology and Diesel Technology along with other options.