National Park College (NPC) Automotive Technology program was awarded a $12,989 Education
and Training grant from the Arkansas Motor Vehicle Commission last month.
The grant assists institutions that offer education and training in the field of
vehicle service and maintenance to improve training programs with the goal of growing
the available workforce for the future. The grant will be used to purchase new equipment
that has been requested by local industry partners to educate NPC’s high school and
college level students. These items include a scope kit with a laptop, diagnostic
tools, and a transmission fluid exchanger that will allow for hands-on training in
key automotive concepts.
“Receiving this grant will allow the Automotive Service Technology students to train
with the latest high tech equipment,” said Automotive Technology instructor Jason
Armitage. “This will allow them to transition into the field faster and fill the many
requests we have to supply technicians. The jobs are available; we just need the qualified
students to fill them.”
Technical and Professional Division Chair, Jennifer Lyons said she was encouraged
by the collaboration with the local automotive industry. “When industry and education
work together, the end result is always a better experience for our students. Our
goal is for them to graduate and be ready for employment and this type of cooperation
makes that possible,” she said.
