Great Barrington — The automotive course sequence at Monument Mountain Regional High School would look unfamiliar to those who think in terms of English and math and gym. In the first year, students take Introduction to Mechanics, in the second Maintenance and Light Repair, the third Maintenance and Light Repair 2, and in their senior year they do an internship. Students who take all four of these experiential classes earn real-world credits, get to fix their own vehicles and those of their family and friends, decide if the automotive world appeals to them, and develop both hard and “soft” professional skills that they can then, if they’re so inclined, apply to real-world jobs.
It has worked pretty well for senior Kitson Stover. This is partly because, as he puts it, “I cannot sit still. I have to be doing something with my hands.”
Lately, he and some fellow automotive students have been at school working on repairs to Kitson’s very own 2009 Toyota Tacoma. It had an axle seal leak that required a steady hand and a lot of patience to fix, qualities that Kitson has had years to cultivate. He recognizes how much he has grown through the work. “When stuff doesn’t go right, or you’re done fixing something and something else breaks… you’re learning from that.”
In addition to the hands-on hours he puts in with auto teacher Chris D’Aniello in the garage, Kitson spends four mornings per week at his internship at Haddad Subaru in Pittsfield, which he secured through his guidance counselor Sean Flynn. If you buy a used car from that dealership, you might be driving away in a vehicle that has been recently serviced and inspected by this Monument-trained mechanic.
Although Kitson had always worked with his dad on cars at home, it took him a while to get his head around the fact that a regular high school building could also house an automotive-repair garage. But he soon found his way to the “A Wing,” Monument’s automotive wing, and made his home there. Why? Because being around cars and learning how they worked through trial and error was “what I had the most fun doing.”
In addition to auto, Kitson found his place at Monument on the football, alpine ski, and lacrosse teams, and through those experiences, he has fit in lots more practice in the skills that are so important for success outside of school. He just joined football as a junior, he says, and had to learn very quickly how to be adaptable and aware. “They just threw everything at me… You gotta look at things and be like, ‘This guy’s got this guy, so I’m gonna get this guy so that guy can go up there.’ You’re looking in front of you, but you have to think of what’s going on behind you.”
Lacrosse has shown him the power of trust. He has been playing the game with his friend Paul Naventi since they were little, and at this stage, they are so in tune in the game that they intuitively know where the other one is and how to finish one another’s plays. “I can throw a ball anywhere near him and I can know that he’ll catch it. It’s the same thing for me.”
There are three Chrises in Kitson’s life this year, and they all think highly of him and his potential. Chris D’Aniello, the automotive teacher, calls Kitson “clever and a problem-solver.” Chris Tucci was Kitson’s football coach and was struck by how quickly he became a force on the offensive line, despite never having played before junior year. “He has an extraordinary ability to maintain a positive outlook as he learns. That makes him a teammate others want to be around.” And finally, Chris Church, Kitson’s supervisor at Haddad, noted Kitson’s perfect attendance record, excellent communication, his “comfort with the uncomfortable,” and high level of engagement, “even with things he hasn’t done before.”
Kitson is “definitely going to college” for automotive study he says, probably on the diesel track, and he applied to school where he could continue to play competitive lacrosse. Without the structured activity of the sport he knows best, he says, “I’d just get bored, going to class and then hanging out in the dorm.” He is deciding now between Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y., or SUNY Morrisville, toward central New York. There are pros and cons to both. He is leaning toward Morrisville because the infrastructure of their automotive program is more up to date. But, he says, Hudson Valley’s shop layout is better. SUNY also has a business tie-in going for it, and Kitson and a friend are already hatching a business idea, while Hudson Valley is commutable, so much less expensive. It’s a tough decision, but Kitson is making it with clear goals in mind and in the knowledge that he will be entering into a field with more job openings every day.
