Push in that clutch and feather that gas pedal. We’re going for a ride!

Continuing off from last year, manufacturing teacher Austin Andrews and his team of aspiring mechanics have succeeded in restoring his old Mustang.

Andrews had this to say about his students’ work, “It feels great. I think the reward is actually watching them in action, being able to see stuff come together.”

With the opportunity given by Andrews, these students took off and put their hard work in.

“Oh, dude, this car, absolutely love it,” Achilles Young (10)  said. “V8 Cobra engine. I applied myself in every way I could. I helped slip the engine and the transmission in.”

“I am very proud of myself and my fellow peers and my teacher,” Jacob Zawkiewicz (12) said.

Savion Dallas (12) was happy to see the car in a working state, “It’s cool to see that we worked on something and after the fact to see it driving around and actually working is cool. Especially considering the engine was taken apart.”

The work has paved the way for future Southeast projects as Andrews strives to expand his automotive program.

“Our current project as of right now may be on hold. It’s a ‘65 Chevy Malibu we are currently awaiting for the frame and the engine to be completed so that we can get it here and put it back together. But we may be transitioning over to a student’s car that’s currently sitting,” Andrews said.

Andrews never saw the car as the main prize, but rather the experience he had with the students, “I have fun everyday. I have fun because it gives me a way to connect to the kids around me. You know, you guys are gonna leave, that’s something I’m gonna have to take into consideration that sooner or later the students that I have had are gonna be gone. But the question is not what they’ll forget what they leave here and go where else they’re going but what will they remember? What is the one thing that will have touched them in a way that they’ll remember something forever?”