For Immediate Release
Contact: Kurt Wehrmeister, Director/Communications & Public Affairs, Moose International
Phone 630/966-2229; email kwehrmeister@mooseintl.org
Donation of 3 Hyundai cars is latest highlight as Child City makes transition away from
small engines/machines vocation toward automotive vocation
MOOSEHEART, IL – They’re about to cut a hole in Mooseheart’s Vocational Building so large you could drive a car through it. And that’s exactly what they’ll do once the door is finished.
The new door is necessary as the next step as Mooseheart works through its inaugural year with an automotive vocational program. On Tuesday of this week (Oct. 3), the program moved a big step forward when Hyundai Motor America donated three cars to the program for student use.
“I think a lot of our kids will benefit from having hands-on experience,” said Mooseheart Superintendent of Education Gary Urwiler. “A vocational trade is great to get them into. I definitely think that, in the future, we will have some kids who will go out and get a job right away and get their foot in the door and get some experience.”
Urwiler made the shift away from a small engines/machine shop setting for its industrial vocational training after long-time instructor Dale Stallman retired in 2004.
“We agreed that automotive would be a better choice,” Uwiler said. “I didn’t see the small engines and machine shop going anywhere.”
Small engine repair continues for Mooseheart middle school students. Urwiler said students work on lawn mower and other small engines and prepare to transition to automotive engines and systems.
Urwiler said that to date, roughly $150,000 has been donated by Hyundai to Mooseheart. Don Rotermund, Training Manager, Central Region for Hyundai stepped in to fill the school’s need for equipment. In addition to the three cars donated this week, Urwiler said other equipment donated by Hyundai includes 15 engines, two air conditioning testing units, a wheel balancing machine, diagnostic equipment and other equipment as well.
“(Rotermund) was really excited about giving to our children,” Urwiler said. “Now we have to start producing and make them proud of what they’ve given us.”
Students are currently working on cars outside the Vocational Building, but will shift inside when the door is cut in the Vocational Building. Further planned improvements include a lift and further equipment. Urwiler said the next phase for the program is to receive certification from the National Automobile Distributors Association, a process that takes between five and seven years.
Dennis Ruedel, an automobile mechanic with over 14 years experience, is the instructor of Mooseheart’s fledgling program. He said the program has a need for donations of still-functioning automobiles as well as hand tools and air tools suitable to automobile repair.
Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a stable home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.
Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations – the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,900 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.
Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.
Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.
Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 250 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.
In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.
Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.Mooseintl.org and www.Mooseheart.org or call 630-966-2229. |
