Jordan High’s auto program earns additional $65,000 for restored Mustang
Two months after earning $50,000 at a prestigious national automobile auction, Team Red Jacket, representing Jordan Vocational High School’s automotive program, earned an additional $65,000 at another one.
Team Red Jacket won the 2016 Quaker State “Best in Class Challenge” in December, prevailing among five finalists and 55 semifinalists in the six-week competition to restore and customize a classic Ford Mustang. As a result, their 1996 Mustang qualified for the Barrett-Jackson Auction in West Palm Beach, Fla., in April, when the buyer returned the car to Team Red Jacket and donated the $50,000 winning bid to Jordan’s automotive program after hearing the team’s inspiring story.
That enabled Team Red Jacket to sell their car again. And during the Barrett-Jackson Northeast auction last week at the Mohegan Sun resort in Connecticut, the buyer also returned the car to Team Red Jacket and donated the $65,000 winning bid to Jordan’s automotive program. That will allow Team Red Jacket to sell the car a third time, at the Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas auction, Oct. 19-21, Quaker State announced Monday in a news release.
“The Quaker State ‘Best in Class Challenge’ program has given these students the confidence in their ability to work in the automotive industry and the motivation to continue to succeed and follow their dreams,” the news release says.
Robert Harris is the director of Jordan Vocational High School’s 200-student automotive program and the coach for Team Red Jacket. Local auto shop owner Mike Young of Safety 1st Collision is the professional consultant, allowed for each team. The 10 Jordan automotive students on Team Red Jacket are Austin Bedsole, Joseph Camacho, Fred Cofer, Joseph Craigen, Alejandro Gomez, Dante Lummus, Breanna Price, Jacob Van Erem, Jacob Wilton and Trennie West.
Harris told the Ledger-Enquirer he is “in awe” of this gift that keeps on giving.
“It’s just such an uplifting thing to see the support for technical education,” Harris said. “It’s mind-blowing.”
Making the story more amazing, Harris said, the buyer-turned-donor at the auction in Connecticut lived for a while as a child in a Columbus public housing project and an Alabama orphanage until his family moved north. He then got a job as an iron worker because of his vocational school training, Harris said. The man’s name is Joe Riley, now a “major automobile dealer” in Phoenix, Ariz., Harris said.
“It’s another one of those blessings along the way,” Harris said. “He just happened to be there at the right time when we were at the auction, and he heard about our story.”
The Ledger-Enquirer didn’t reach Riley for comment before deadline.
Mark Rice: 706-576-6272, @markricele
This story was originally published June 26, 2017 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Jordan High’s auto program earns additional $65,000 for restored Mustang."