Education Foundation - About the Education Foundation: News: 2006 Press Release

Hoffman Estates, IL– December 4, 2006 - To celebrate the continued success of the Industry Training Alliance, the I-CAR Education Foundation has declared December as I-CAR Industry Training Alliance month.

To recognize December as Alliance month, the Foundation will be offering online meetings for members of the industry to learn more about the Alliance and how it affects schools, students, and businesses. The complimentary informational sessions will be offered at 2:00 p.m. CDT every Wednesday in December. Please contact the Foundation to sign up for one of these sessions by calling 888.722.3787.

The Industry Training Alliance was developed to optimize the efforts of industry training organizations and career and technical schools and colleges to provide the collision industry with a coordinated and comprehensive training curriculum. Kelvin Brown, a collision repair instructor at Bevill State Community College in Sumiton, Alabama believes the Alliance has done just that for his school. "The Alliance has improved the Auto Body program here at Bevill State Community College," says Brown. "The fact that the schools can teach the same curriculum as I-CAR and that students receive credit for the I-CAR points helps to better prepare them for a career in the collision industry. The fact that they graduate with the knowledge and skills required to deal with today's repair processes and procedures along with I-CAR points makes them more marketable and immediately valuable to their first employer." Bevill State Community College has been a member of the Alliance since May 2004.

Admitting its first school into membership in 2001, the Alliance has directly affected the education of over 2,000 students and is continuing to grow in size and in the benefits offered to students. The 119 participating Alliance schools are located across the United States and Canada. These schools vary in size and program length ranges from nine months to four years. Schools can have secondary, post-secondary, or both secondary and post-secondary programs.

"The Training Alliance is a great way to introduce students to the industry and the importance of life-long training to truly be a professional," said Greg Brink, a collision repair instructor at Kishwaukee College in Malta, Illinois.

As a participant in the Alliance, students have the option of earning I-CAR points for the education they receive in the career and technical school or college environment. Upon graduation, the student or their employer may apply for those points for a nominal processing fee. Students are encouraged to use these points as a resumé builder when applying for employment, to achieve their Platinum Individual designation, and to help their employer earn and maintain the Gold Class Professionals designation. Over the past five years, students from these 119 schools have applied for over 45,000 points. An Alliance school graduate could enter a workplace with anywhere from one to 70 I-CAR points, depending upon how many points a school builds into their curriculum.

The I-CAR Education Foundation is continually accepting applications from career and technical schools and colleges to become members of the Alliance. To become a member, a career and technical school or college must use the I-CAR Live curriculum (formerly known as the Enhanced Delivery) offered by the Foundation. Additionally, schools must either have instructors attend an Instructor Qualification Workshop (IQW) or the school's collision repair program must be ASE-certified to the NATEF standards or provide documentation to support proof of a Canadian Provincial apprentice program. Instructors must also successfully complete at least one Instructor Training Evaluation (ITE) online prior to school admittance into the Alliance.

For a list of schools participating in the Alliance or to download a school application, please visit the Foundation web site at www.ed-foundation.org or call 888.722.3787, Ext. 282.

The I-CAR Education Foundation, founded in 1991, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to attracting entry-level candidates and assist in preparing them for careers in the collision industry.

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