By Megan Yang
Two Redwood Rangers, Hailey Meraz, and Ali Luna were presented with gift certificates and recognition for their internships at Groppetti Automotive.
On Friday, September 30, 2022, an event awarding two students with their internships took place in the Auto-Mechanics class. Hailey Meraz and Ali Luna were both presented with $900 gift certificates for their work.
Hailey Meraz, class of 2023, had an internship for Groppetti Automotive at Toyota and was in the service part center.
Meraz’s internship was for 4 weeks. In addition to her internship, she did summer school and worked part-time.
Meraz “would help people who had issues with their cars and appointments.”
“It feels good being able to get the award. I think after being in auto for 4 years, it makes it feel good,” says Meraz.
Ali Luna, class of 2023, also had an internship with Groppetti Automotive as a service mechanic. Like Meraz, he did his internship while also doing summer school.
Luna says, “My experience was great. I had great mechanics to look up to and learn skills, strengths, and stuff that is going to help me later on.”
Luna is planning on becoming a diesel mechanic and continuing in the automotive field.
He is also planning on doing an internship for the American Automobile Association.
“I feel pretty lucky to get this opportunity because it’s something that is going to really help me later on,” says Luna.
Automotive instructor
Ken Cox instructs the automotive classes at Redwood.
He says, “This is the blessing of what I do. Having my kids get out into the city, working with the different automotive industry partners, and then having those partners come back and recognize my kids.”
Cox says, “Congratulations [to Meraz and Luna]. They were the ones that were recommended and chosen to do the paid internship… So they earned it [and] they worked for it.”
for Visalia Toyota
Orrin Kroon, service manager for Visalia Toyota, says, “It’s a very exciting feeling to be able to help the community and help the young generations.”
The biggest thing that Kroon appreciates in the program is “[he] doesn’t have a day in college.”
Kroon has been with Groppetti for 17 years, starting as a maintenance tech, working his “way up the ladder just with hard work and ethic.”
Kroon says, “It’s nice to be able to sculpt and get the young generation on that track, you don’t have to spend $40,000 for school.”
Megan Yang
Megan Yang ('24) is in her 4th year of Journalism. She is a writer and editor for the News section and enjoys writing for the Redwood Gigantea.
Tags: auto, Auto Shop, california, groppetti, high school, internships, journalism, rangers, Redwood, redwood auto, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, redwoodrangers, rhs, visalia ca
