Words & Photos: John Gunnell
It’s called Goal Oriented Education, and the goal in the Waupaca High School Auto Shop is to completely restore a 1967 Camaro hardtop. Instructor Bill Kroseberg is the car enthusiast who started the program at the school in Waupaca, Wis. He didn’t realize at the start how big the project would get.
“Local car dealer Tim Neuville came up with the car to work on,” says Kroseberg. “Waupaca High School already had a Goal Oriented Educational class that built a house. So, I figured we should start a class to build a car."
At first glance, the first year Camaro looked like a restored car that didn’t need a whole lot of work - but guess again. As the students started working on the car last fall, problems began to pop up. It was very rusty underneath the body filler and white and blue paint. In fact, students have now replaced just about every body panel on the car.
Mason Winter, Joseph Landuatter, Ryan Koccousky, Brittney Van Dyke, Josh Peglow and Isaiah Wentzel are students who are now in their second semester of working on the car. Judson Nickel, Neil Perket and Tegon Noltner joined the project for the spring semester. Mason Winter welds like he’s been doing it his whole life. “I grew up on a farm and I learned to weld there,” he said.
Brittney’s dad Pete Van Dyke is a big time car collector. While some of the other students aren’t really into cars, she’s anxious to learn the skills she can use to help her dad fix cars. She did a lot of sanding on the Camaro, which at this point is a rolling body tub with a frame, wheels, engine and gray primer paint.
“We didn’t ever envision doing this much work on the car when it first came in,” said Kroseberg. "At this point, it is far from done, but everything on it is new or reconditioned. We’ll also be making some upgrades like disc brakes and a much more modern suspension system.”
Kroseberg thinks it will take two years to complete the car from start to finish. The course is an elective and students aren’t required to take it, but judging from the six students who returned from the fall semester, there won’t be a shortage of young talent to make sure the project reaches completion.