“For as long as I can remember I liked working with my hands and would take apart anything I could get my hands on. School was never something I enjoyed, nor did it come easy to me. When I found out that classes existed that matched my passion, school did not seem like such a bad place anymore. Skilled trades classes gave me something to look forward to and got me through high school. This is probably the number one reason why I love teaching a skilled trade myself. These courses were my safe place and I love knowing that I am keeping a program alive that is hopefully providing that same passion and safe place for my students. Each day that goes by I get to work with bright and motivated young adults, eager to have an instructor to match their enthusiasm about cars and how stuff works.”
Austin Thorson teaches automotive students at Elkhorn Area High School in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. As a child, Thorson enjoyed hands-on activities and tinkering with his grandfather and the Boy Scouts, but failed to find the same engagement in school. Everything changed in 7th grade, when a trades teacher saw his talents and helped him do the same. This teacher showed him “how to apply my skill sets to all areas of school, and opened a door for me to see education in a totally new light.” After high school, Thorson enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in the technical education program. He once again met a life-changing teacher, who instilled in him the importance and the art of teaching high school students. After graduating, he began teaching at Elkhorn and has been there for more than a decade.
Just as his skilled trades classes gave him something to look forward to, Thorson provides the same experience and a safe place for his students to thrive. He runs his program as a live auto shop and dealership and he has constant lines of communication and transparency. Students learn and are graded on their employability skills where he rates them on their professionalism, dependability, and communication. Third-year students run an in-school student led service center where they fix live cars with real issues for staff members and are in charge of every part of the process. Thorson constantly focuses on how his classroom will keep up with the ever-changing automotive sector and strives to add the newest developments to his program. For the last few years, he has bridged the gap on electric and hybrid technology in cars and how students can safely learn and understand what they need to know about these newer cars for their futures.
Notes of Excellence
- For more than a decade, Thorson has run open shop nights for students on Thursdays after school for them to work on their own projects. Students now offer a two-night community event where they teach automotive basics to community members.
- In 2023-2024, 76 students earned industry certifications in five areas: brakes, batteries, and multimeters.
- In 2023-2024, two of Thorson’s students found a 1962 770 Oliver tractor and performed the program’s first ever tractor restoration and entered it into the Chevron Tractor Restoration Competition.
- To stay current on content, Thorson has also become Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certified in areas of auto maintenance and light repair, suspension and steering and brakes.