We love to see this!
These days there’s no shortage of news about teenagers who are entitled or even worse behave in criminal ways, so it’s great to see a story that’s the exact opposite. When we ran across this story form KTLA5of Corona High School students restoring a Jeep for a family that had lost their patriarch, it made us stop and really think.
See a teenager’s missing car found by a YouTuber here.
As you can see from the photos, these teens did a great job spiffing up the 1969 Jeepster Commando. Originally, it was purchased by Shane Porter who had been a Fire Captain but was retired. His plan was to bond with his sons while making the old Commando run like new and really shine. He never realized that dream, instead passing away last year.
Bob Mauger, a Corona High School Automotive Technology teacher, heard about the tragedy and decided to do something about it. With the help of his students, he took on the restoration work, seeing it through to beautiful completion.
Kids these days need direction and goals. They’re not going to find much on social media, just like how adults don’t, but for many they’ll realize through projects like this how rewarding working with their hands is. To take something that was old and broken down and by applying skill and grit, transforming it into something functional and great to look at teaches them something of high value.
We think projects like this can help make gearheads out of the younger generation. It takes older enthusiasts shepherding teens and young adults appropriately, like what Mauger has done. Perhaps instead of just calling kids lazy, we can hand them a torque wrench, teach them how to use it, and open their eyes to a whole new world of possibilities.
Image via Corona High School
