For many Raiders, the start of the fourth quarter marks the beginning of the school year’s end. For the students of the Automotive Technology Pathway, however, the start of this quarter marks the end of the Career Technical Education (CTE) course for the 2024-2025 school year.
The Pathway’s teacher, Mr. Winston Arnold, was suddenly unable to continue his position as a teacher for the course midway through the third quarter of the year.
“Mr. Arnold, who was our Auto teacher, could not continue his position rather suddenly,” says assistant principal Mr. Aaron Luoma. He emphasizes that “the details are kind of unclear, and it’s something that’s being looked into.”
“Admin just told us that he wasn’t coming back,” says academic counselor Mr. Michel Lara.
Due to Mr. Arnold’s abrupt leave, students in the Pathway were left with substitute teachers for the remainder of the quarter. Subsequently, CI’s counselors were told to “remove all Auto kids from quarter four for Auto class,” according to Mr. Lara. He says they were “instructed to put them in another elective,” an elaborate task considering the overlap between CTE Pathway credits and certain elective credits.
Senior Gerardo Lopez is one of the countless affected students due to Auto’s sudden change.
“I just looked at my classes, and saw I didn’t have it for third period anymore,” says Lopez, recounting his initial realization that he would not be taking the class for the last quarter of the year.
Lopez has been in the Pathway for three years, and was scheduled to have the class this year for the whole school year. “Every quarter, I had it,” he says. “It was good.”
The benefits of the hands-on learning and work-based course is undeniable. The Oxnard Union High School District website says students who take the course have the opportunity to “learn how to install, maintain, repair, and replace automotive parts” among other hands-on activities, which all have great advantages for students interested in working in fields that emphasize such skills.
“It’s a wonderful program when it’s run correctly for years,” says English teacher Ms. Monica Adrian. “We’ve produced awesome kids that go into the mechanic realm.”
However, she is transparent with the series of events that unfolded over the past couple of weeks, saying “[she’s] disappointed that a program that was so amazing has just fallen through the cracks.”
For the Raiders who are interested in taking advantage of the hands-on learning experience through Automotive Technology next year, do not fret.
“We will definitely have somebody, whether it’s going to be Mr. Arnold or somebody else,” says Mr. Luoma. “We’re not going to let that awesome auto shop and all the equipment, and all the money and everything that was put into building this program, just fall apart. No way.”
