DREAM CAN'T BE STOLEN BY THIEVES.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

This one's for the lowlifes who broke into Don Moss's carwash and auto-detailing workshop at Miller High School in Reseda twice in the last three weeks.

You did a heck of a job sidetracking the dreams of some great kids looking for a leg up in life.

They're all special education students with some tough emotional challenges they've been fighting hard to conquer. Moss has spent the last 32 years as a teacher helping them do just that.

The old way of doing things -- offering mainly academic instruction until they're 22 and no longer a responsibility of the public school system -- hasn't worked real well, he says.

Academics are important, sure, but it doesn't amount to a hill of beans unless it leads to a job. And that's always been the rub. No training, no jobs.

``We knew we had to get them involved in classes leading to a possible career, and that's where we put our focus,'' Moss said. ``It's escalated and blossomed into something cool that the students love.''

For the last five years, Miller High -- just down the street from its big brother, Cleveland High -- has been shifting over to classes in transitional employment, wisely teaching its special-ed kids skills that might lead to a job one day.

One of the most popular and successful classes has been Moss's carwash and detailing workshop.

The Miller kids began putting fliers out in the community, asking neighbors and businesses for a chance to show what they could do.

It's been working really well. Hundreds of people have dropped off their cars for a $5 wash -- all the way up to a $25 detail job -- and the Miller kids have made them shine.

``Pride has always been one of the main things we've tried to teach our students, and they're getting to see it firsthand now,'' Moss said. ``They spend hours detailing a car, take a step back, look at it in the sunlight and smile.''

Besides the pride, the students earned a little paycheck at the end of the month. The rest of the carwash money goes for newer, better equipment to make the business grow.

Someday, who knows, Moss says, maybe his kids will have a full-time job in a carwash or auto-detail shop.

Yeah, everything was working great until the teacher walked into his workshop after summer break three weeks ago and found the lock on the equipment bin broken and hanging open.

Gone were the water pressure sprayers, detail buffers, car vacuums and more than $800 in car-cleaning supplies. What the thieves missed the first time around, they went back and got Monday night.

You should have seen the look on his students' faces when they arrived at school Tuesday, Moss said. It would have broken your heart.

``They were devastated and confused,'' Moss said. ``They couldn't understand why anyone would do something like this to them. How do you answer that?''

You don't. All Moss could do was not let his kids give up. The thieves might have stolen all their equipment, but the teacher wasn't about to let them steal their pride, too.

``We'll just have to start over and buy new equipment,'' Moss told his kids. ``In the meantime we'll cut down on the cars we're able to wash.''

So that's what they were doing Wednesday over at Miller. Letting their customers know it might be a little longer before they could wash and detail their cars this month.

But please don't give up on them. They'll be back.

If you want to help the Miller kids rebuild their business, give Moss a call at [phone].

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

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