Mechanics’ Mortarboards : First Graduating Class at Hyundai Academy Gears Up for New Careers and Hopes of Better Lives

For Camille McCall, looking for a job was a bit like trying to fish without bait.

She was eager to work but could never seem to persuade employers to take a chance on a thirtysomething mother of two with few skills.

“Everybody wants you to have training, but nobody wants to take the chance to train you,” McCall said. “It’s hard as hell to find a job.”

But now McCall has training, a job and an opportunity for a better life. The South-Central Los Angeles woman is part of the first class to graduate from the Hyundai Academy of Automotive Technology. Each of the 14 graduates is guaranteed a full-time job making $6 to 10 an hour at a Hyundai dealership.

“The upper and middle class are always crying about the poor,” McCall said, standing near her 9-year-old son, James Sanford. “ ‘They’re lazy, they don’t want to work.’ Finally somebody is doing something, giving them a chance.”

The Hyundai Academy was started in July by the Korean auto maker as a way to help rebuild Los Angeles by training the unemployed and offering them jobs. The program paid participants for attending school and provided them with bus transportation from South-Central Los Angeles to their classes at Harbor College and the Hyundai facility in Fountain Valley.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony Thursday, Bernard Kinsey of Rebuild L.A. called Hyundai “part of the solution to a better Los Angeles” and praised the company for having the “vision to create these classes.”

In his speech, Kinsey called the program only a beginning and encouraged students to view the jobs as steppingstones to a better future.

“The president and chief executive officer of McDonald’s began by flipping burgers,” Kinsey said. “Everybody starts off someplace, but you don’t have to end there.”

The academy is a collaboration by Hyundai, Los Angeles Harbor College, where the classes were held, and the Los Angeles Unified School District, which selected the students from its adult education programs.

D.O. Chung, president of Hyundai Motor America, challenged students to use the unique opportunity to improve their community.

“The ultimate goal should be to bring back business to the South-Central area,” Chung said. “These students will always be special because they are the first. They have the responsibility to reach out and help others.”

Over the last 18 weeks, students have learned the ins and outs of smog checks, the intricacies of electrical wiring and the ABCs of tuneups. Their pay began at $5 an hour and was raised each time they received state certification in a specialty. But company officials realized students would need more than money and transportation to ensure success.

“If they’re unequipped socially, if they’re unequipped without tools or a car, they’re going to fail,” said Pete Egus, a manager with the company.

So Hyundai included a class on life skills management and will give each trainee a $2,000 set of tools. The company is also helping to obtain loans for anyone who needs to buy a car.

“A Hyundai of course,” Egus said.

Surrounded by friends and family at the ceremony on the Harbor College campus, the graduates talked as much about the difference a career will make in their lives as they did about the specifics of their new jobs.

“It’s made a big change in my life,” said Bryant Duvont Swinton, standing next to his daughter, Brandy, 6. “It means a career. I’m happier.”

Raul Rincon, 32, had worked as an auto mechanic before, but lacked the certificates to command the pay he will now be able to get.

“It’s hard to get an opportunity like this,” he said.

Of the 14 students, three are women.

Brenda Faye said her success in the academy has been a source of encouragement for herself and her five children. Faye plans to continue her studies in electrical wiring at a community college.

“It’s impacting them and it’s impacting me,” Faye said. “They’re going to stay in school because I’m going to stay in school.”

The graduation ceremony was particularly special for 19-year-old Elias Salas, who attended with his family and automotive teacher from high school, Andrew T. Lee. Salas was the top student in his class and was awarded a trip to South Korea.

Company officials said a new class will begin in January.