Chapel Hill High School was named the Tomorrow’s Technicians 2023 School of the Year as the best technology training school in the country, becoming the 15th school to win the award.
The award—announced in February—was given to the Tigers by WIX Filters company, a filtering and technology company from Gastonia. The school was given $10,000 and other merchandise from the company.
Automotive director Robert Ballard, the school’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, said that getting national recognition will help the program grow and improve.
“I think [the students in the class] are starting to realize there’s a lot of jobs and opportunities and potential for future growth in the automotive industry,” Ballard said.
Under his tenure—Ballard has been working at the school since 2017—the automotive program has grown from 35 students to four levels spread across seven periods.
Ballard has also helped many of his students to secure jobs or internships with local automotive repair businesses.
Senior Tre Farrington—who works as an apprentice automotive diesel technician at Ford Crossroads in Apex and has taken automotive classes at the school since his sophomore year—is one of those students.
“The program opens a plethora of doors and opportunities,” Farrington said. “We’ll often have guest speakers from different groups and companies come and present, and that’s how I got into my apprenticeship with Ford. If you’re interested in an apprenticeship or a career path in anything remotely automotive-related, this is the place to be.”
Students in Ballard’s program said they are happy by the newfound recognition the school is getting.
Freshman Albert Lacy said the “new funding” will provide new learning opportunities for students and will allow students to work “with newer stuff.”
Sophomore Ricardo Zuloaga hopes that the new recognition will compel more students to join the program.
“I think everyone should take this class because Mr. Ballard is a great teacher,” Zuloaga said. “He enjoys the class; he makes it fun for us; and you end up learning a lot. Even if you don’t want to be a mechanic, you still learn a lot about cars.”
Principal Steven Sullivan said that students in the automotive program are lucky to have Ballard as a teacher because of his commitment to his students.
“Mr. Ballard’s automotive program is hands-down the best I have ever seen. His commitment to the program and his love of teaching are unmatched,” Sullivan said.
Farrington agreed with Sullivan’s assessment and said Ballard is more than deserving of the recognition.
“The $10,000 award from WIX Filters is a testament to how solid and big of a deal our auto program is,” he said. “Mr. Ballard has done a heck of a job spearheading the auto classes and the racing team, and it’s been incredibly fun to be a part of all this and watching the growth of the program.”
