VENTURA : Student Award Earns New Car for College

Thanks to a Ventura student’s national award in automotive technology, Ventura College Monday received a new car in which vocational students can practice their skills.

Josh Addison, 20, who graduated from Ventura College in May, won third place this summer in a national automotive technology championship in Kansas City, Mo.

Addison, who is now employed as an automotive technician at a local dealership, won the regional and state skills contests and represented California in the national Vocational Industrial Clubs of America competition.

To recognize Addison’s achievement, Honda of Oxnard donated the 1995 burgundy Accord to the Ventura College program.

The automotive department will use the car as an instructional aid. The car is not allowed to be driven.

“This car is for students to work on so they can develop their skills like Josh did,” said Chuck Rockwood, associate professor of automotive technology at Ventura College.

“With the increased use of electronics and computers in today’s automobiles, offering students up-to-date training is difficult, especially for public schools facing budget cuts,” Rockwood said.

“Providing recent-model vehicles, training aids, tools or equipment for hands-on instruction helps us prepare the students for future work in the real world.”