Oxnard high school students race to repair car for holiday giveaway
Rod Giles gripped a brake pedal in one hand, pointing with the other toward the brake caliper piece held by a high school student.
"That's gonna go against the brake rotor if it wears out," he said to the cluster of novice mechanics working on the system.
The caliper belonged to a ten-year-old Toyota Scion elevated six feet off the ground, attended by a swarm of high schoolers: a soon-to-be gift from the students of DRAGG to a local family in need.
Drag Racing Against Gangs and Graffiti's annual holiday car giveaway gets the limelight, but the meat and potatoes of the after school program is here at Commercial Auto Body in Oxnard, where 34 students from eight high schools in Oxnard Union High School District meet twice a week to repair the once-inoperable car.
"Kids have time to assess the car, look at different aspects, take it apart," Oxnard Police Department Sgt. Daniel Shrubb, a program co-founder, said. The hope, Shrubb said, is that the program gives students a place to land after school, one where they can get class credit and valuable technical training. "We see them transform from teens to adults."
Giles, an early board member for the nonprofit, came on as the program's lead instructor 2⅟₂ years ago. A retired police officer and certified mechanic who used to build custom hot rods on the side, the Oxnard native said he sees the program as a way to give back.
As a high school student, he recalled, he asked his parents if they could help him get a car. Sure, they said, if he was able to repair the beat-up sedan sitting in the backyard, he could keep it. So he did, falling for cars in the process.
"I know where I started," he said. "It's important for me to give them that basic knowledge."
The program has become hugely popular since it started in 2009. Shrubb said the waiting list for the class had grown over 40 students long, and the nonprofit received more than 160 applications for the holiday car giveaway.
Students selected the winner from the thick stack of applications on Wednesday while they put final touches on the car. "It wasn't easy," Shrubb said.
The Toyota Scion, with brakes, wheels, sparkplugs and bodywork all carrying the fingerprints of DRAGG, will be delivered to its new owners on Monday at the Oxnard Police Station, starting at 5:30 pm.
Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahmurtaugh and @vcsschools. You can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Oxnard students race to repair holiday giveaway car via DRAGG program
