By Mary Massey
Early College Opportunities High School’s fundraiser car show Oct. 18 was bigger and better than ever.
A record 200 vehicles were on display in the school’s parking lot, from low-rider cars and custom vehicles to motorcycles.
“It was a huge success,” said Chris Coriz, ECO auto body instructor and event organizer. “Our goal was to fill the parking lot, and we did that. We wanted to get the community involved and have a good time. It was a lot of fun.”
There were two new special events that added to the attraction of this year’s show--a bike off and welding and paint simulator contests.
Coriz put his rare 2018 BMW HP4 racing motorcycle up against one of his student’s bikes, which was a custom Harley-Davidson. The student shows his bike at various bike shows. Car show participants then voted on the winner.
“The student won that battle. I lost,” Coriz conceded. The contest “added more excitement and added to the car show.”
Coriz said the auto paint and welding simulator contests were new this year to showcase the technology at ECO. He was very proud that one of his students won both contests.
The student, Juan Pablo Portillo-Batista, Jr., 11th grader, said the welding simulator was pretty realistic in terms of movement, speed and distance.
“It was pretty exciting,” he said of winning the contest. The prizes were an ESAB auto darkening welding helmet and a Dura Block sanding blocking kit. He was especially happy to win the helmet because he welds at home.
Portillo-Batista has been taking welding classes since last year with Jeremy LaMesa and plans to earn an AWS welding certificate this year. He wants to pursue a career in auto technology because his family is involved in the car business. Also, welding skills are valuable to use for his auto tech projects.
He transferred to ECO as a sophomore from another high school because there were not enough elective classes that interested him. He’s glad he did because he is learning valuable skills that are becoming more and more in demand.
Portillo-Batista believes all the classes at ECO complement one another. “These classes open a lot of gateways. I can branch out and use my skills for infrastructure, auto mechanics, computers and art.”
Coriz praised Portillo-Batista for being self-driven and for his willingness to put in the extra time to learn new skills. “He wants to excel,” Coriz said. “He will be super successful.”
Money raised from the car show will benefit students like Portillo-Batista in state and national competitions as well as traveling to the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show next November in Las Vegas, Nev.
Coriz is extremely thankful for all the support and help from the community and the ECO staff in producing the car show.
Contact Coriz at ccoriz@sfps.k12.nm.us to make a donation to the scholarship fund that helps send students to competitions.