Snow Goer February 2025 | Page 43

“ I ’ m not a fan of personal projects – personal projects never get done or they get dragged out ,” he continued . “ But if I have a student working on Joe Smith ’ s snowmobile and snow is coming , Joe wants it now and there ’ s a level of urgency that gets applied to that kid , and now that kid has to go to work , perform and finish the job . It ’ s not optional .”

He cited another example of an ATV engine swap the students did for an 85-year-old man who needed his quad fixed before hunting season . “ All of the rules of customer satisfaction , doing the best we can and making everything perfect all applies . It ’ s about the only class that they will take in high school that holds them to that standard . The joke in here is that you ’ re either going to get an A or you ’ re going to get fired .”

Many kids who sign up for Van Der Hagen small engine or welding courses are mechanical novices , he said . At first , he ’ s teaching them the difference between a flat-head and a Phillips screwdriver . He also has them empty and sort a bin of hand tools , something that can be helpful for many students who maybe don ’ t do well in book-based classroom settings .

“ They maybe had to try to learn fractions on a sheet of paper , but they don ’ t know them in the real world ,” Van Der Hagen said . “ But when they put the kits back together , the tools teach the kids . Now it makes sense to them – it ’ s actually applied . They see that a ⅜-inch socket is a little bit bigger than a ¼-inch , and why that matters .”

That said , students spend limited time in the classroom – Senior Anthony Wittman on the Black Max team ’ s Vmax-4 .

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