So a few weeks ago I wrote this entry about the Mechanic-in-Training program. It was a little bit early because I didn’t have pictures of our current students yet so I just used our MITs from last year. I wrote that early entry though because I wanted to share the good news about the funding we had received for the program (from Detroit City Connect and the Buck Dinner Fund).
But now I have pictures! I know you love the pictures because this is the internet. People don’t like words, they like pictures – so here are a few to accompany my words:
Check out that fine photo above, isn’t Jason a great photographer? I know, thanks. Anyway, that photo is of Heather doing what she does best and that is teaching. For our four Mechanic in Training students, Heather is their instructor, mentor and other influential words ending in “tor”. Heather is a tor I guess.
Anyway, this is Heather’s second year as the MIT instructor and does a great job with it. In five weeks she teaches the basics of bike mechanics, introduction to bike culture, customer service skills for the retail shop as well as all the information about Back Alley Bikes programming. That is a lot to go over in five weeks. But let me say it again, Heather is great and good at what she does.
Another fine photograph! Get used to it because we have three more to go. Above you see Shamar. Shamar has been coming to Back Alley Bikes for two years. He has earned at least two bikes here and fixed many more. This is also Shamar’s second year applying for the MIT program. He stuck with it and made the cut this year. We really like Shamar around here and are glad to have him. Shamar goes to Cass Tech.
It is just like fine art being created right in front of your eyes isn’t it? Thanks, I know the photos are good, but we are here to talk about the MIT students. Above is Ian. Ian came to Back Alley Bikes for the first time this winter. He toughed it out and built up a road bike (a Schwinn Varsity – a classic first road bike) that he has been riding around. When Ian isn’t busy working manual labor jobs like fixing up houses and businesses, he is at Back Alley Bikes getting his mechanical skills down. Ian is working towards finishing high school on the internet. That is a thing you can do now. So I guess his high school’s mascot is anonymous or something. That would be awesome.
Omari is so recent to the Youth Earn-a-Bike program that he hasn’t even finished his bike yet. However, he will as he finishes up his classroom time as part of his experience as a Mechanic In Training. It is a great coincidence that I got a photo of Omari while he cleaning out a bike because as it is mentioned in the caption, this is something Omari is great at. If you want your bike clean inside and out, Omari is the person to help you. As an added bonus, he can put the bike back together again as well. Omari goes to the Henry Ford Academy in New Center.
It isn’t hard to make Duane look good, but yes – thank you for noticing my photo skills. Meet Duane. Duane first came to Back Alley Bikes as a field trip for his PE class from Detroit School for the Arts (DSA). DSA is a good bike to go on a field trip to Back Alley Bikes being that the school is one block from the shop. During Duane’s visit to the shop he saw something that looked interesting to him: a job opportunity to teach others how to build bikes! So this makes Duane the only Mechanic In Training student this year that has not been through Youth Earn-a-Bike.
These four will be learning in classroom time, teaching during Youth Earn-a-Bike, working at The Hub of Detroit and shadowing other job positions at Back Alley Bikes. It is going to be a busy and fun summer.
So there you have it. That is the team for the 2013 Mechanic In Training Program. We are excited to have them and to see where they go. Like last year, there is the opportunity to go to the Youth Bike Summit this winter in New York City. Hopefully we can make that happen again.
Oh hey, do you want to help us do that? We need a few funds to take folks to the summit so why not register for the Progressive Dinner by Bicycle ride and help us raise some of those dollars? Or you could also purchase a really awesome Back Alley Bikes shirt.