Fort Worth

Auto Shop in Mansfield Aims to Help High School Students Gear Up for the Future

A group of former Fort Worth Independent School District educators have opened up an auto shop to help high school students gear up for the future.

AutoDuco was founded by three men: Chad McCarty, a former TCU football player and former principal at Eastern Hills High School, James Nevels, who worked in a male student mentorship program in Fort Worth ISD, and Rogelio Ornelas, an administrator at Fort Worth ISD.

The shop has an apprenticeship program, where students can go to school through a home-school program while also working alongside experienced technicians in the shop.

The apprentices can earn their high school diploma and also get certified to work on cars.

“It feels like this is what I was called to do. It feels like I have the freedom to do what I always wanted to do,” said McCarty.

Ernesto Reyes is one of the apprentices at the shop. He started when the shop opened in October of last year.

“I want to be a mechanic, open up my own shop, be self-sufficient,” said Reyes.

Reyes recently helped fix up Hall of Fame running back Ladainain Tomlinson’s 1996 Impala.

McCarty said the shop has room for around 6 to 7 apprentices.

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