Jan. 26, 2017—The Collision Repair Education Foundation announced that applications for its Ultimate Collision Education Makeover school grant are now available for high school and post-secondary collision school programs. The Makeover grant program is in its ninth year.
Instructors are advised to begin the application early and industry professionals are encouraged to get involved with the makeover grant by working with their local school’s collision instructors to help them apply. The winning schools will be announced during the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas in October. Awards of up to $50,000 will be given.
The Ultimate Collision Education Makeover school grant application is available online and is due by June 1, 2017.
The makeover grant program incorporates the “Collision School Career Readiness Benchmark” that the Foundation launched last year.
Under the new program, schools are classified into three tiers:
- Tier 1: Advanced
- Tier 2: Proficient
- Tier 3: Developing
The foundation will determine the designation based on information provided by schools about the capabilities of their program, detailed in the Collision Repair Education Makeover grant application. The criteria for each level includes the number of hours of instruction, curriculum in place, along with what tools, equipment, and supplies a school uses to prepare its students for employment in the collision industry.
The organization’s Board of Trustees Selection Committee will select the winners of the awards and determine what items on the wish lists each school will receive.
Other recent Collision Repair Education news:
The foundation will kick off its spring career fair schedule on Feb. 3 in Des Moines, Iowa, which will be followed by at least 11 additional scheduled career fair events. To ensure the best student participation possible at these events, the Education Foundation will be partnering with ASE/NATEF who will be inviting their collision and automotive school contacts to the events as well. To view the dates of other career fair events, check out CollisionEducationFoundation.org.
The CREF announced a goal of raising $100,000 for Chicago Public School and City Colleges of Chicago collision school programs in the next 6 months. The foundation will be gathering support and donations from individuals and businesses that will be used to help Chicago collision school instructors ensure that their students receive the best technical education possible. A check presentation will take place on stage during NACE Automechanika Chicago the week of July 24.
