Two-stroke and four-stroke engines, running lean or running rich. Broken spark plugs and gummed up carburetors. Students are learning about small engine repair and more at the Virginia Beach Career and Technical Education Center.
They’re also earning points toward their Briggs & Stratton Master Service Technician certification in Timothy Kennedy’s outdoor power equipment classes, all while evaluating and repairing outdoor power equipment dropped off by members of the public.
Kennedy has taught engine repair in Virginia Beach for 36 years. Some students build careers working in an auto shop. Others enlist in the military and repair helicopters and fighter jets. Still others join the team at international companies like Stihl, which has a manufacturing plant in Virginia Beach and donates engines to the Tech Center.
When classes are in session, Kennedy spreads the word that he’s accepting outdoor equipment for students to repair. He started the program in 2008 to help students gain practical knowledge when he taught Power & Transportation at Kellam High School.
Equipment owners make an appointment to drop off their outdoor equipment at the Tech Center. They agree to pay for parts, but the labor is free.
Each piece of equipment is assigned to a student for evaluation. Students check the compression, spark, oil and fuel; try to start it up, and, if necessary, make repairs to the engine. Students then email the customers, who order the necessary parts so students can finish the repairs. They also give the engines a tune-up to practice their skills. Students grade their own work while Kennedy monitors their progress and offers tips for improvement.
A workboard with tags and numbers tracks all the work inside the classroom. Green chips are for finished equipment, yellow means the job is waiting for the parts, and a red chip means the equipment is beyond repair. Last year, 12 students in Kennedy’s class repaired 146 pieces of equipment. In mid-February this year, students had received 65 pieces of equipment and repaired 27 so far.
In Outdoor Power Equipment I, students learn enough to finish with their Briggs & Stratton Master Service Technician certification. They know how to look at a piston and tell if the engine has overheated, run lean, ingested dirt or lacked lubrication. Kennedy encourages all students to experience an internship to position themselves for pay raises as they gain experience.
“It’s all about workplace readiness,” said Kennedy, who sets expectations for students to show up on time, be professional and take pride in their work.
Some students just want to learn how engines work. One year, a school valedictorian took the class and screamed with joy the first time she got an engine to start, Kennedy said.
Other students continue their training at the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Oceana, which instructs Navy sailors and Marines how to maintain and repair F/A-18 Hornets. Kennedy takes his students to visit Fort Eustis, where soldiers in the U.S. Army’s 128th Aviation Brigade work on Apache helicopters.
“What students learn in my class, it could inspire them to enlist, take pride in wearing the uniform and serving their country,” said Kennedy, who is the Tech Center’s Teacher of the Year. Other students go to technical career schools like Lincoln Tech.
Kennedy loves it when he runs into former students at places like The Home Depot and hears they’re applying the skills they learned in his class.
“It’s nice to hear that their doing well,” he said.
Kennedy applies for grants every year, such as the Virginia Beach Education Foundation’s Building Futures Grant and the foundation’s Innovative Learning Grant, to help pay for tools and other costs. Other support comes companies like Pennzoil, which donates 10 cases of oil each semester that students use in the engines they repair.
Outside of class, students say they’ve used what they’ve learned to fix go-karts, pressure washers, family cars and even a lawn mower left out by the side of the road for the trash. One of Kennedy’s students already has a job with a landscaping company. Others are eying careers as an ATV technician, smart technology technician, marine diesel mechanic and a Porshe mechanic.
Andy Foster said he likes the comradery between students.
“We’re like family,” the 11th grader said. “I feel comfortable here.”
Students offered the following tips for your outdoor power equipment:
- Regularly check the oil.
- Make sure the fuel is new and clean to avoid contaminating your engine.
- Watch what you’re doing: “Don’t run over stuff.”
- At the end of the season, safely empty out the fuel and run the engine so the lines are clear of fluid over the winter.
Donate your outdoor power equipment for repair
The Outdoor Power Equipment classes at the Technical & Career Education Center accept outdoor power equipment for repair.
- Due to safety concerns, all equipment drop-offs need to be scheduled by emailing Timothy.Kennedy@vbschools.com.
- Ride-on mowers must be in running condition.
- Pick-up or drop-off service is not available.
- Repair charges are the cost of the materials plus a $10 donation. Labor is not charged.
- The instructor checks all equipment before it is returned to the customer.
- A full diagnostic evaluation of each piece of equipment is performed before making any repairs.
- Upon completion of the evaluation, student technicians will contact you, and let you know their findings and recommendations. No repairs will be made without authorization from the owner.
- As the repairs are completed by students, the turn-around time may be as much as two weeks, or longer, depending on the availability of parts.
- The program also accepts old equipment owners would like to dispose of. What can’t be fixed will either be used in lessons or broken down and properly recycled.