REPLACEMENT AUTO-REPAIR TEACHER HIRED AT SAUGUS SHOP CLASSES TO REV UP AGAIN AT HIGH SCHOOL.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

SAUGUS - A new instructor will jump-start the auto shop program at Saugus High School, where shop students were left stranded by the roadside in December.

Gary Sornborger, a mechanic and repair shop owner with more than 20 years of experience, will start teaching three classes in the school's repair bay starting in August.

``We can't get techs,'' Sornborger said of the need for auto mechanics. ``Shops in the valley steal the good guys from each other and they're making good money. In my last certificate class, two weeks before the end of the semester, all of the guys were grabbed and had jobs. If a kid knows how to do repairs, the sky's the limit in terms of what they can earn.''

After auto shop teacher Jim Phillips retired in December, students kept reminding Principal Bill Bolde that they were interested in auto classes. When the good news that Sornborger was interested came a few days before final exams, counselors garnered 68 students interested in his classes.

As an instructor teaching the Ford Motor Co. maintenance and light repair certification course, Sornborger was asked by a member of the Automobile Service Council to help the school.

``He said Saugus was going to lose its auto shop program if I didn't do something,'' he said. ``I'm the only credentialed teacher in the group and since I was already teaching part time at Pierce College, I thought this might be something I could do.''

Sornborger has already called in some favors from Ford dealers and colleagues, including Karl Boeckmann of Galpin Ford, who donated a cutaway Saturn to the shop.

``It's a great visual aid,'' he said. ``The kids will be able to see inside a late-model car, see the safety and crush zones, look at the fuel-injection system.''

Saugus' principal couldn't be more excited.

``He comes to us with a lifetime of experience,'' Bolde said. ``He's already working on some partnerships to help the kids out; he's hoping to set up a certification program so those students who don't plan on going into college can be ready to flourish.''

``He said a kid coming out of high school could make from $14,000 to $140,000 a year depending on how much they want to put into it. The difference is them; they can come out of school in charge of their own destiny.''

``Gary is not a young guy, but he's got a youthful heart and he's someone who is going to be around for the kids,'' Bolde said.

The shop on campus still has working racks and some devices, but Bolde said the school needs an infusion of about $30,000 to bring it up to speed. In addition, Sornborger gave him a ``wish list'' of things that he needs to give students the best education possible.

Items on the list include a variety of socket wrench sets, drive ratchets, a digital volt/ohmmeter, a scanner to identify bad engine circuits, impact guns, cooling pressure testers, three strut spring compressors, a lab scope and a four-gas tailpipe emission analyzer.

``We're just happy to share with the community that we aren't abandoning the industrial arts at Saugus. We just have to find the right people to make it successful,'' Bolde said.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

HOW TO HELP

To donate to the auto shop program at Saugus, call Bolde at [phone].

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Photo:

(color) Longtime mechanic and repair shop owner Gary Sornborger is ready to start up the auto-repair classes at Saugus High School.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

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HOW TO HELP (see text)