Smoky Hill High School students start all girls auto club
There will always be a need for qualified auto mechanics, which is why some young women from Smoky Hill High School toured Groove Mazda and Ford on Arapahoe Wednesday and learned what it takes to be a mechanic.
Growing up, Smoky Hill junior Emily Flynn never thought about becoming an auto mechanic.
"Absolutely not. I thought I would get into something with animals or something like that," said Flynn.
But her family encouraged her to take auto class to learn basic car maintenance.
"When I finally got into class, I started really enjoying it," said Flynn. "As soon as I got into cars, I was like, 'oh, actually, this is what I enjoy."'
That is kind of what happened with Sierra Jones.
"So, when I was in high school, I wanted to be a veterinary technician. That didn't end up happening," said Jones. "One of my mom's good friends actually knew the general manager at the time at Mazda. He said, 'hey, I have this opportunity open for you to come and do service to sales. Talk to customers, get them in new cars.' I thought, 'I guess I'll give a shot.'''
Now, she is the service manager for Groove Mazda, overseeing a shop full of mechanics, who are all men.
Which is why she was more than happy to give Emily and a few other members of the Smoky Hill all girls automotive club a tour of her shop. She says the auto industry needs more women and these just may be the ladies for the job.
The girls started the club which has six members just a few months ago to teach other students how to work on their cars. They say they have taught their female classmates a lot which they hope will help them.
"Like when a woman goes in for like, like a brake change, oil change, things like that, they can get charged for way more than what they would be charged for if they just did it," said Smoky Hill junior Raya Greenberg.
But they say the males don't really like to listen to them. Sierra says just like when she was starting out,
"A lot of males don't really trust females because they think we don't know what we're talking about," said Jones.
She says these young women can be successful mechanics, they just need to stick to their guns and rely on their knowledge and experience like she did.
"Never give up. Every single day is hard. You have hurdles that you have to jump over but find that confidence that you have. And no matter what, give it 110% every single day and just never give up," said Jones.
Emily, and her classmates who started the all-girls auto club say their ultimate goal is to open an all women auto repair shop.
