There are a multitude of staff members here at North Hollywood High School who can help you learn valuable skills. Mr. B, Jerry Barahona, helps students understand the mechanics of cars.
Through real-world experience with cars brought in by staff members and parents, students learn to perform regular maintenance on vehicles. Mr. B teaches students through demonstrations and supervised experiences in the shop how to properly perform oil changes, coolant flushes, tire rotations, brake changes, and air filter changes.
After completing two years of the automotive career training pathway with Mr. B, students are expected to receive a certificate from the school equating the experience gained in the class to two years of work experience, allowing students to easily break into the automotive industry.
“They’re required to know and understand about an automotive — let’s say like a car itself — and know how to do basic maintenance. The class itself is supposed to be just intro to automotive; even being the second year we call it advanced, but [it’s still] you know… like I said intro,” stated Mr. B.
“There’s kids that gravitate more hands-on than others, and so those are the ones that kind of take more out of the class. With everybody else at least; they know the components of the car and what they do — things like that,” Mr. B continued.
Mr. B did not start off as a teacher in his career journey; he started off as a custodian here at North Hollywood High School in 2019 with experience in the automotive industry. Mr. B started working as a teacher here in January of 2021 when a teaching spot became available.
Mr. B stated, “When I started off in the automotive industry, it was more me going to school straight out of high school. I took a couple of classes; after that I started working out of my car, where I started doing mobile brake changes and mobile oil changes.”
To further his education and extensive automotive knowledge, Mr. B is currently taking classes and stated, “I am currently doing my credential program to get cleared to be a credentialed teacher.” He was hired based on preliminary credentials.
Mr. B enjoys being a teacher and being able to pass on his knowledge to students. He shared, “There’s never a dull moment with a vehicle. You’re always finding out something new about a vehicle, or coming across something new. It becomes more… I guess when it comes to diagnostics itself it’s pretty interesting to kind of identify what is causing certain problems.”
Mr. B feels, “[AutoShop] It’s kind of open for anybody that wants to learn whether or not they’re gonna be in the industry.”
