Getting Their Hands Dirty

Richard Alberghini teaches life skills one tire rotation and oil change at a time.

The 2023 seniors will leave his Auto Shop class this month with a wealth of knowledge. They’ll also have career opportunities and none of them are one-dimensional. The students are as comfortable learning philosophy and working in law offices as they are handling concrete and welding scrap metal.

“They’re a fun group and have been productive,” said Alberghini. “The best part is when they move onto an apprenticeship program that we offer or when they sign up for trade school.”

Javier Hernandez is focused on the emerging industry in auto repair for hybrid and electric cars. When all is said and done, he’ll take one year of courses in Union City before heading to the University of Northwestern Ohio.

Hernandez, 18, said UNOH will be his “big start.” But he also had support even earlier.

“Auto Shop opened my mind,” said Hernandez. “Everything about cars is electric these days.”

Another senior who is taking the apprenticeship route is Chayanne Ramos.

Ramos, 18, is doing apprentice work for Penske and wants to become a Diesel Technician. He grew up watching his uncle work as a truck mechanic.

“I’ve always been into fixing, repairing, and making things work better,” said Ramos. “This path is right for me.”

One of Alberghini’s since-graduated students joined the same IAMAW Automotive and Diesel Apprenticeship program. The former CHS student started at $21 per hour in the shop with union benefits. The program sends apprentices to school and — after a year and a half — that student now makes $35 per hour.

Alberghini added that the student is taking another test to bump himself up to $40 per hour.

“I tell these kids … to get into the Diesel program. It costs you nothing and you have a liveable wage after a year,” said Alberghini.

The program requires students to take a simple skills test. Alberghini said roughly 11 students took the test this year, with about nine of them passing it.

“These kids want to work,” said Alberghini. “Once you have a trade, you’ll never go hungry.”

Instilling responsibility

Prior to joining the Clifton Schools 14 years ago, Alberghini worked in the trades. Today, he teaches his students everything that can help prepare them for a car-related situation.

The last marking period is devoted to buying used cars. It includes how to do a bill of sale, how to inspect a car, and ways to look out for scams. “Maybe they won’t fix their own car,” said Alberghini, “but they will understand what a mechanic is telling them so that they don’t get abused.”

Auto Shop operates as a twoyear Career Technical Education program. The first year is Power Mechanics, which is primarily learning about the systems of a car. The chosen students return in the second year and never sit still.

“They’re out using their hands every day,” said Alberghini. “They do shop work, welding projects, and clean the shop.”

Alberghini instructs 15 students in Auto Tech Level 2 and has four classes for Power Mechanics with 20 students per class. Of the roughly 100 students, about seven are girls.

Two of them are Jaleesa Pariona and Abigail Chaky. Pariona will attend William Paterson this fall for legal studies. Chaky, who has worked at the Boys & Girls Club for the last two years as a swim instructor and lifeguard, will start at MSU and potentially transfer or study abroad later.

Pariona has always held an interest in cars but wanted to learn more.

“Especially really old-fashioned cars,” said Pariona, 18. “A [1964 Chevrolet Impala] would be my dream car. I wanted to learn the basics to be able to maintain a car.”

Chaky grew up attending old car shows with her father, William. She found out about Auto Shop at CHS and immediately took Power Mechanics in her junior year.

“It was always so interesting to me how the functions of a car work and working on it hands-on,” said Chaky, 18. “Everything is very physical, and I guess that’s what sparked an interest in me. I am a hands-on type of person, not a paper and pen person.”

The year-long projects include maintaining teacher and student cars. The shop works on brakes and tires to suspensions and oil changes. During lulls, they split into groups for welding projects.

Alberghini sees students thinking and using their imagination, while they also gain welding skills. It’s even better for students, like James Troller, who get to learn with a tactile approach.

“I will miss Mr. Alberghini’s class the most,” said Troller, 18, “because it was fun, hands-on, and it gave me a safe space with supervision to work on my car.”

Gabriel Zapata, 18, echoed a similar sentiment. He added that they always worked hard and got the job done, but they also made time for jokes along the way.

Striking a balance between lightheartedness and responsibility is crucial. Not only for efficiency, but also for everyone’s safety. It means putting cell phones in a drawer, acting appropriately, and arriving on time.

“The class should be educational and fun, and I think I have accomplished that,” said Alberghini. “I teach these kids like young adults, not elementary students. I make them step up to the plate.”

Alberghini wanted to thank Clifton for making Auto Shop classes possible. “The administration provides this shop with everything it needs,” said Alberghini. “They’re willing to put money into the shop and I commend them for it because they can see what it’s doing for the kids.”

Difficult? Easy!

What was something in high school that you thought would be difficult but was actually easy? Explain.

Mohand Abdelkarim: The real world. People make it seem so hard but I found that I manage perfectly fine.

Enoc Morales: I thought Philosophy would be hard and would make you think a lot. And it does. But it is actually easy and I am passing it with ease.

Gabriel Zapata: Auto mechanics class was honestly not as hard as I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong; it had its challenges. But we always found a way around problems because of the king, Mr. Richard Alberghini.

Kenneth Oliveros: Socializing. Sometimes you can over think issues and it prohibits yourself from good times.

Giovanni Olaya: Making friends after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted as the pandemic had cut me off from all of my friends. However, once we returned to school September of 2021, I found it quite easy to reconnect with old friends and make tons of new ones as everyone else was in the same boat trying to learn to socialize again.

Chayanne Ramos: Communicating was something that I struggled with coming into high school, but time and my the crew in my barbershop helped me overcome that.

John Kilroy: Being able to see friends. I thought that it would be way harder to see people since the school is large, but that wasn’t much of an issue at all.

James Troller: Learning about all the classes the school offers. Lots of upperclassmen would help by telling you about different classes that I wouldn’t have thought about.

Sergio Ortega: Many may have thought that high school would be harder than middle school but I had a lot of fun. Of course, if you concentrate then everything is easier.

Claudia Natoli: I always thought it would be making friends because it’s a new atmosphere. Coming with only one friend and having social anxiety, I thought I wasn’t going to fit in. But in reality, I have so many good friends. It was super easy to meet new people. Most of the people that I met in freshman year are still my close friends.

Krishi Patel: Making friends and meeting new people. At first, I thought that I would struggle with finding my group of friends but I made new friendships easily.

Jary Hernandez: Passing but I paid attention and studied.

Antonio Bordamonte: At first I was worried about fitting in but being a sociable person, I was able to meet amazing people that I now call good friends. I thought AP Calculus was going to be a very difficult class. But it really was not since I took the time to learn and understand it.

Fernando Rosa Mejia: I thought all of the math courses were going to be really difficult, but I ended up doing really well and taking Pre-Calculus in my senior year.

Aleksander Prelich: Getting through the day felt like it’d be a challenge in middle school. I got labeled as the quiet kid simply because I cut my hair short and didn’t have many friends. The bullying was excessive, but it stopped after the COVID lockdown.

Hisham Ettayebi: Physics. Don’t get me wrong, it was challenging. But not nearly as bad as people always said as I was coming into the class.

Justin Giglio: My academics were actually easier than I expected. I was able to maintain straight A’s by being consistent with my studying and homework, as well as having assignments done on time. At times, it could be difficult, but if you follow along and are dedicated, high school is over before you know it.

Remy Dubac: Meeting new people. I did not know half of the students in the Class of 2023, and there were many from other schools in my classes. However, it ended up being easier than I expected. I met a lot of my close friends in high school and my best friend, Krishi Patel, in my third year. People were very welcoming and friendly, allowing me to open up and have a great time with them.

Kiara Negron: I believed homework would be hard, but I learned that homework was the best thing in order to advance in a class. It was just extra classwork.

Roman Albano: Joining new clubs for the first time would be difficult to acclimate to, but, as high school went on, interacting and bonding with new people became easier.

Michelle Marin: Making new friends. I learned many things about myself that I never knew. Part of that is that I actually love talking to new people.

Gabriela Wojcik: Keeping up with all of the school work. The most important thing was managing time. Being aware of assignment due dates and what work I was capable of accomplishing at certain times made my work less difficult.

Javier Hernandez: The grades because in freshman year, I was confused with how it worked.

Romeo Gonzalez: Socializing. COVID-19 greatly affected it, but I had no problem connecting with others.

Ceasar Diaz: Pre-Calculus, but I soon realized that if you just pay attention and try your hardest to absorb the knowledge directed toward you, you will succeed.

Gavrielle Rivera: I thought making friends would be hard. This ended up being not true. I have made the most interesting and memorable friendships in high school.

Emely Mata: Ask questions. Everything is 10 times easier.

Jineen Khalil: In middle school, they always said how hard high school was. It’s not. Just stay focused.

Angel Urdaneta: English but I came to find out that it isn’t as hard as people said it was.

Albaraa Gebril: Having a language disorder, I struggled to articulate my ideas. Exposure and practice let me develop into what I’ve been called: an eloquent speaker.