The Collision Repair Education Foundation, in collaboration with AkzoNobel Vehicle Refinishes North America, announced the schools being recognized for efforts to advance sustainability within their respective automotive and collision repair programs. As a result of combined student teams and faculty-derived submittals, each school will receive funds from the Sustainability Education Challenge Grant to implement their proposals and report on the success of their project.
Schools from around the country submitted applications. Applications were evaluated by the Collision Repair Education Foundation Selection Committee on the ability to expand awareness of sustainability, advance continuous improvement and create a positive impact within the local community where the schools are located. The recipients include:
- Applied Technology Center (Rock Hill, S.C.)
- Central Nine Career Center (Greenwood, Ind.)
- Freedom High School (Freedom, Wis.)
- Norwalk High School (Norwalk, Calif.)
- Olathe Advanced Technical Center (Olathe, Kan.)
- Springfield Clark Career Center (Springfield, Ohio)
- Thomas Edison CTE High School (Jamaica, N.Y.)
- Walla Walla Community College (Walla Walla, Wash.)
The program, initiated by AkzoNobel in an effort to support one of the core principles of the global corporation, was introduced in 2014. The goal was to create awareness and educate students with intentions of seeking careers within the collision repair industry on the growing global imperative of sustainability and its ability to make a positive impact in all facets of life today and, more importantly, for the future.
“We are proud to be aligned with AkzoNobel for a second year on the topic of sustainability,” said Clark Plucinski, Collision Repair Education Foundation executive director. “This topic, while growing nationally and internationally, is not necessarily one that is routinely thought about in our industry by students and instructors. However, the grant application process encourages both thinking outside the box and moving the school forward. The ultimate goal is to create awareness within an emerging workforce and the business where they will be employed in the future.”
