Automotive Collision Repair
Instructor: Mr. Ronald Moore
Visit the Teacher WebsiteRepair. Refinish. Restore.
Want to turn damaged vehicles into something you can be proud of? Automotive Collision Repair gets you out of a traditional classroom and into the shop, where you will take on real projects and see the results of your work come together. Whether you already enjoy working on vehicles or are ready to learn from the beginning, this program gives you a place to start building skills for your future.
Automotive Collision Repair is a two-year program with 20 total spots available each year across Berea, Carolina, Travelers Rest, and Wade Hampton High Schools. Choosing the program means planning to complete both years and make the most of this limited opportunity.
What Students Learn
Students develop practical collision repair skills they can use to care for vehicles today while building the technical foundation needed for future education and careers in the collision repair industry.
- Inspect vehicle damage: Identify visible and hidden damage, review repair information, and develop a repair plan.
- Repair body panels: Straighten metal, apply body filler, repair plastics, and restore damaged panel contours.
- Replace vehicle components: Remove, replace, and align doors, hoods, fenders, bumpers, trim, and related parts.
- Weld automotive metals: Set up MIG equipment, prepare joints, complete welds, and test the quality of finished work.
- Refinish vehicle surfaces: Prepare, mask, prime, mix, spray, blend, polish, and inspect automotive finishes.
Is This Program Right for You?
Students should be ready to:
- Commit to completing both years
- Attend regularly and arrive prepared
- Follow all shop safety procedures
- Work carefully and stay organized
- Solve problems and accept feedback
- Take increasing responsibility for their work
These habits help students succeed in the lab, advance to Year Two, earn certifications, and compete for Work-Based Learning opportunities.
Your Two-Year Automotive Collision Repair Pathway
Each semester of your two-year commitment builds on the one before it, allowing students to develop stronger technical skills, greater independence, and professional workplace habits.
Semester 1 | Building the Foundation
Year One begins the two-year commitment and helps students turn an interest in vehicles and restoration into real technical skills through classroom instruction, hands-on lab experiences, and real-world training. The program is open to rising 10th- and 11th-grade students who are prepared to complete both years.
Students focus on:
- Following shop, equipment, ventilation, chemical, and personal safety procedures
- Identifying vehicle construction types and structural and cosmetic components
- Understanding how collision energy moves through a vehicle
- Reading damage reports and developing basic repair plans
- Removing, labeling, storing, and reinstalling trim and vehicle components
Semester 2 | Developing Repair Skills
Students take on more challenging work as they analyze collision damage, repair and align vehicle components, restore panel contours, and follow procedures used in professional collision repair shops. To advance to Year Two, students must demonstrate mastery of required skills and earn a grade of 75 or higher each quarter.
Students focus on:
- Identifying direct, indirect, and hidden damage and determining impact direction
- Removing, replacing, and aligning hoods, doors, bumpers, fenders, and related parts
- Straightening damaged metal with hand tools, power tools, and pulling equipment
- Applying and finish-sanding body filler to restore panel contours
- Evaluating and repairing rigid, semi-rigid, and flexible plastic components
Semester 3 | Advancing Technical Skills
After completing Year One, students return for the second year of their two-year commitment. They build on their foundational repair skills, complete more advanced welding and component work, and may become eligible for Work-Based Learning or co-op opportunities.
Students focus on:
- Identifying steel, high-strength steel, aluminum, and other vehicle materials
- Selecting, setting up, and adjusting MIG welding equipment
- Completing plug, butt, fillet, stitch, and continuous welds
- Testing weld quality and correcting welding or wire-feed problems
- Repairing advanced panels, movable glass, hardware, plastics, and adhesives
Semester 4 | Preparing for the Industry
Students complete the two-year program through advanced refinishing, repair, and quality-control projects. They work with greater independence while preparing for technical college, apprenticeships, entry-level employment, and other opportunities in the collision repair industry.
Students focus on:
- Preparing, masking, priming, sealing, and blending repaired surfaces
- Inspecting, cleaning, setting up, and adjusting spray equipment
- Mixing formulas, matching color, and applying automotive finishes
- Identifying and correcting runs, orange peel, overspray, and other finish defects
- Sanding, buffing, polishing, detailing, and completing final quality-control checks
Work-Based Learning
Eligible Year Two students may be recommended for Work-Based Learning or co-op opportunities with local dealerships and collision repair facilities. These earned experiences allow students to apply their skills with an employer, gain on-the-job experience, and potentially earn while they learn.
Placement is not guaranteed. Students must meet school eligibility requirements, and each sponsoring company may establish additional expectations related to age, experience, certifications, attendance, and workplace readiness.
Industry Certifications
Students may pursue industry-recognized certifications as they progress through the program:
- Tier 1: OSHA 10-Hour General Industry
- Tier 2: I-CAR ProLevel 1 certifications
- Tier 3: Advanced I-CAR certifications
Career Opportunities
Automotive Collision Repair can lead to careers involving vehicle restoration, refinishing, damage assessment, estimating, customer service, and shop operations.
Paint
Technician
Paint technicians prepare and refinish vehicle surfaces. They use professional equipment and refinishing materials to match colors, apply finishes, correct defects, and produce smooth, durable, high-quality results for customers.
Auto Body
Technician
Auto body technicians inspect collision damage, develop repair plans, straighten metal, repair or replace panels, restore vehicle contours, and verify that completed work meets fit, function, quality, and safety expectations each day.
Collision Repair
Estimator
Collision repair estimators inspect damaged vehicles, identify needed repairs, calculate labor and material costs, prepare estimates, and communicate with customers, technicians, insurers, and parts suppliers throughout the repair process.
Automotive Claims
Adjuster
Automotive claims adjusters investigate vehicle claims, inspect damage, review repair estimates, document findings, and communicate with customers, repair facilities, and insurance teams to help move claims through the repair process.
Visit the Program
Students can explore the Automotive Collision Repair lab and meet Mr. Moore during scheduled school tours. Students and parents are also invited to visit the classroom during Enoree’s Fall Recruiting Open House and Lab-or-Treat in late October or our Spring Recruiting Open House in March. Visit the front page of our website or follow us on social media for event details as they become available.
A visit provides a closer look at the hands-on training, tools, vehicles, and opportunities available throughout the two-year program. It also gives families an opportunity to ask questions and consider the student’s interest, schedule, transportation, attendance, and readiness to complete both years.
Local Work-Based Learning Partners
Local employers help eligible Year Two students connect classroom and lab instruction with professional collision repair workplace experiences. Students may be recommended for Work-Based Learning or co-op after demonstrating the technical skill, maturity, dependability, and academic standing needed to represent themselves, Enoree Career Center, and the sponsoring employer well.
Two-year commitment note: Automotive Collision Repair is designed as one connected two-year experience, not two separate one-year choices. Year One builds the foundation students need for the advanced training, certifications, greater independence, and possible Work-Based Learning opportunities available during Year Two. Approximately 16 to 20 new students are accepted each year, and a student who leaves after Year One cannot be replaced by a new student entering Year Two. Accepting a spot should mean planning to complete both years. Following through on that commitment helps each student make the most of the opportunity while respecting the limited spot that could have been offered to another interested student.
Work-Based Learning note: Work-Based Learning placement is not guaranteed. When available and earned, these experiences may provide paid on-the-job training and may lead to full-time employment or tuition assistance. Completing the full two-year Automotive Collision Repair program prepares students to compete for these opportunities while honoring the limited spot they accepted and the opportunity that could otherwise have gone to another interested student.
Graduation and college admission note: Students earn four high school credits each year and may earn up to eight credits by completing the full two-year program. These credits count as electives toward South Carolina high school graduation requirements, and one credit may fulfill the CATE/Foreign Language graduation requirement. Most four-year colleges do not accept career center courses as substitutes for foreign language courses required for college admission. Students should review admission requirements with their school counselor.