BRCC Dedicates Auto Lab
August 28, 2018
KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES
By NOLAN STOUT
Daily News- Record 8/28/18
WEYERS CAVE — Blue Ridge Community College is getting some help to keep up with an ever- changing world of technology.
About 50 people gathered at the college on Monday for the dedication of the Charles B. Cook Automotive Analysis and Repair Laboratory.
The dedication was in recognition of a $ 250,000 donation to the Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation for the college’s automotive program from Cook’s estate.
Cook, a Haddonfield, N. J., native, moved to Craigsville around 1988, according to Larry Craun, executor of his estate.
Cook, who died in 2014, served in the U. S. Navy in World War II. Craun said he was passionate about cars and was a dedicated member of the Shenandoah Valley British Car Club and the Waynesboro- Staunton Region Antique Automobile Club of America.
“We get to continue this legacy together,” said Scott Russell, an instructional assistant in the automotive program.
Cook, who didn’t have children, had no direct ties to the school, but wanted Craun to donate funds to automotive programs.
Craun said Cook would have supported the program and called him an “innovator” and “self- reliant.”
“He never particularly told me he wanted the money to come here,” Craun said, “but he didn’t tell me he didn’t.”
The money has been coming into the BRCC foundation since 2015, said Executive Director Amy Kiger.
The funds are being distributed through four avenues.
The first is a $ 50,000 scholarship endowment for the automotive technology program. Kiger said the money will be invested, and a scholarship will be awarded to one student a year.
“The money won’t run out,” she said, adding that so far two students have received scholarships.
The foundation will also invest $ 50,000 each in endowments for auto technology equipment and machinery and welding equipment. The remaining $ 100,000 donation is unrestricted and can be used for any school program, Kiger said. BRCC President John Downey said the funds will help not only address “critical equipment needs,” but help fund instructional technology. “We serve the needs of local employers in the automotive industry that are in desperate need today of well- trained automotive technologists,” he said. “Career and technical education is so important for our region, for our state and for our country.” Steve Sanders, an assistant professor in BRCC’s automotive program, said the money will be used to keep up with technological advances in vehicle repairs.
“Technology runs ahead of us all the time, and the test is to keep ahead of the technology,” he said. “It’s not a struggle, but you have to run to keep up.”
“We serve the needs of local employers in the automotive industry that are in desperate need today of well-trained automotive technologists.
-John Downey, BRCC president
Scott Russell, an instructional assistant at Blue Ridge Community College’s automotive technology program, demonstrates instructional equipment during the dedication of the Charles B. Cook Automotive Analysis and Repair Laboratory on Monday.
By NOLAN STOUT
Daily News- Record 8/28/18
WEYERS CAVE — Blue Ridge Community College is getting some help to keep up with an ever- changing world of technology.
About 50 people gathered at the college on Monday for the dedication of the Charles B. Cook Automotive Analysis and Repair Laboratory.
The dedication was in recognition of a $ 250,000 donation to the Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation for the college’s automotive program from Cook’s estate.
Cook, a Haddonfield, N. J., native, moved to Craigsville around 1988, according to Larry Craun, executor of his estate.
Cook, who died in 2014, served in the U. S. Navy in World War II. Craun said he was passionate about cars and was a dedicated member of the Shenandoah Valley British Car Club and the Waynesboro- Staunton Region Antique Automobile Club of America.
“We get to continue this legacy together,” said Scott Russell, an instructional assistant in the automotive program.
Cook, who didn’t have children, had no direct ties to the school, but wanted Craun to donate funds to automotive programs.
Craun said Cook would have supported the program and called him an “innovator” and “self- reliant.”
“He never particularly told me he wanted the money to come here,” Craun said, “but he didn’t tell me he didn’t.”
The money has been coming into the BRCC foundation since 2015, said Executive Director Amy Kiger.
The funds are being distributed through four avenues.
The first is a $ 50,000 scholarship endowment for the automotive technology program. Kiger said the money will be invested, and a scholarship will be awarded to one student a year.
“The money won’t run out,” she said, adding that so far two students have received scholarships.
The foundation will also invest $ 50,000 each in endowments for auto technology equipment and machinery and welding equipment. The remaining $ 100,000 donation is unrestricted and can be used for any school program, Kiger said. BRCC President John Downey said the funds will help not only address “critical equipment needs,” but help fund instructional technology. “We serve the needs of local employers in the automotive industry that are in desperate need today of well- trained automotive technologists,” he said. “Career and technical education is so important for our region, for our state and for our country.” Steve Sanders, an assistant professor in BRCC’s automotive program, said the money will be used to keep up with technological advances in vehicle repairs.
“Technology runs ahead of us all the time, and the test is to keep ahead of the technology,” he said. “It’s not a struggle, but you have to run to keep up.”
“We serve the needs of local employers in the automotive industry that are in desperate need today of well-trained automotive technologists.
-John Downey, BRCC president
Scott Russell, an instructional assistant at Blue Ridge Community College’s automotive technology program, demonstrates instructional equipment during the dedication of the Charles B. Cook Automotive Analysis and Repair Laboratory on Monday.
