MOOSEHEART, IL, March 5 - When any of Mooseheart's fleet of vehicles need oil changes these days, they never have to leave campus. The same is true when their tires need to be rotated. What's more, students at Mooseheart High School are doing the work.

Less than three school years since its inauguration, Mooseheart's Automotive Mechanics vocation has progressed to the point where students taking classes under the direction of Dennis Ruedel have assumed a series of light maintenance repairs on the campus' fleet, numbering roughly 60 vans, trucks and cars.

"In two-and-a-half years, we've come a long way," Ruedel said. "We've come much further than I expected."

Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart said he figured a five-year timeline for the Auto Mechanics vocation to reach the point where it is today. The program started in the 2006-07 school year as the campus moved away from its small engine vocation.

"We wanted to give it a year or so getting on its feet when we made the change from slam engines to auto mechanics," Hart said. "We wanted to make sure the kids had the skills. They have done great work and it's time for them to help out and take care of the fleet."

Automotive Mechanics is one of a variety of vocational programs Mooseheart students can choose. Others include recession-resistant trades such as Cosmetology, Early Childhood Education, and Health Occupations (the latter of which is coordinated through the Fox Valley Career Center); along with Commercial Music and Management Information Systems. Students leave high school armed not only with their academic diploma but also with proficiency in a vocational skill that they can make use of.

Vocational and classroom education have always sat side-by-side at Mooseheart. In early years, the school yearbook showed a traditional graduation photo and also a photo of the student practicing his or her chosen vocation.

"It's kind of neat that, in our program, our kids are able to have a positive impact on our community by receiving an education," Hart said. "They're getting solid vocational training that goes toward their high school diploma. When our teenagers graduate from Mooseheart, they have a wealth of opportunity and skills to move on to a college or to a technical school or they may choose to join the workforce or the military."

Mooseheart sophomore Dawn Thomas is a sophomore in her first year working in the Auto Mechanics vocation.

"It's really fun because you get to know how the technology works," Thomas said. "You actually learn by doing things."

One of the byproducts to working with the vehicles in the Mooseheart fleet is that students like Thomas are working on the cars and vans in which they are transported. In a sense, these are their family vehicles.

"I worked on my home's van," said Thomas, who lives in New Jersey Home. "So they've said 'thank you' because of what I've done to help keep it running."

Ruedel said he has heard students say "hey, I worked on that" many times when a car or van passes on campus. In addition to oil changes, Mooseheart's students are doing some other light maintenance work, including brake repair, tire rotations and engine-belt maintenance.

Given recent news that many Americans plan to keep their family vehicles longer, the need for routine maintenance and people to provide it is a timely -- and very marketable -- skill to have.

"It's light mechanical maintenance," Ruedel said. "This is where they're going to start in the industry. These are the kind of tasks they would do if they started at 19 or 20. And they're doing it when they're 16."

When the Auto Mechanics vocation began, students worked on donated cars from Hyundai, none of which were still operational. The donations, from Hyundai and other companies, have continued. Donations have also come from Moose members, local car clubs and other organizations. Recently, $3,400 was donated by the Chrome Czars Motor Club from Streamwood. In August 2008, Crazy T's of Northern Illinois auto club donated $1,500 to the program after it hosted a car show at Mooseheart. Hart said that money went toward the purchase of a Bosch Analyzer, which will help students begin to diagnose issues with the vehicles in the Mooseheart fleet.

"We have been very fortunate with various donations to allow our program to reach this point this quickly," Mooseheart Supt. of Education Gary Urwiler said. "We have two lifts, equipment for tire balancing, the tooling and diagnostic equipment - we have been so blessed and fortunate to have the donations that we've had."