In total, 17 out of 18 students graduated from the 2014 program
On August 22, AYCE Employment Services, hosted its 2014 Auto Body Collision and Damage Repair Graduation and Appreciation Event, sponsored by Co-Auto, Co-Auto Collision Services (CCS) and BASF. Taking place at the Radisson Hotel at 55 Hallcrown Place in Toronto, Ont., the event included a buffet dinner, a whole host of guest speakers, as well as donation announcements and student appreciation speeches.
Carla Matta, from Audatex Software announced a donation that will enable students in the AYCE Pre-Apprenticeship Training for Auto Body Collision and Damage Repair Program take basic and more advanced estimation courses to help prepare them for careers in the auto collision sector.
Several donations to help students in the program were announced during the evening
Additionally, Jill Hache of I-CAR Canada announced course donations to help students in the program. What’s often interesting about these events is listening to personal stories from the graduates themselves. As program coordinator Marc Tremblay mentioned to Canadian auto dealer, hearing students Lorne Jackson (graduate of the 2012 pre-apprenticeship program) and Mohammed Y Baruwa (2010) share their experiences proved inspirational for others.
Tony Albuquerque from Assured Automotive, delivered the Employer Appreciation message regarding the AYCE Pre-Apprenticeship program, talking about the four-year old partnership between AYCE and Assured, getting students to sign up and providing the training they need.
The graduating class of 2014, presented by Toronto Mayoral candidate John Tory, witnessed 17 of 18 enrolled students graduate the pre-apprenticeship program this year — a fitting finale for the evening.
Toronto Mayoral Candidate John Tory (centre) was among the guest speakers
Marc Tremblay says that while the AYCE Pre-Apprenticeship Training for Auto Body Collision and Damage Repair Program has come a long way in the last five years, there’s still much work to be done.
“We are always evolving to see what we can add to the program that will benefit our students,” says Tremblay. Some examples include being able to provide students with more tools to help them, as well as offering painting programs to get them to learn an aspect of the trade that is still essentially an art form.
“We’ve got a number of announcements planned for the coming months,” says Tremblay, “announcements that could be game changers.” Given how far the program has come so far, we can’t wait to see what they are.
For more information about AYCE visit: ayce.on.ca
