Tennessee
New program trains Tennessee high school students for high-paying jobs building cars of the future
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The car industry is facing big changes: longtime workers are retiring, younger workers are not going into the industry, and the technology is shifting to robotics. But, a new program that launched this month in Tennessee is looking to high schools to find the next generation of car makers.
The Nissan plant in Franklin County opened in 1997, but making cars in 2024 looks a little different.
“Manufacturing isn’t what it was 20, 30 years ago,” said Matthew Overbay, Director of Manufacturing, Strategy and Planning at Nissan North America.
Overbay said that today’s assembly floor is very much based on computers and robotics.
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“Now, it’s not the individual shooting a bolt, it’s the individual maintaining a robot, making sure that it’s running properly, and being able to diagnose any of the issues that might come from the manufacturing process,” said Overbay.
Enter a whole new type of education. They are called the Centers of Excellence. These are high school programs launched for the very first time this month in four Tennessee school districts – Franklin, Grundy, Tullahoma, and Warren County.
From safety, measuring, automation, and coding, students are earning accreditations to one day work on a car assembly floor of the future while they are still in high school.
“You will go from English, math, history, whatever it might be over into this classroom where you’ll sit and it does have the tools, equipment, and instructors most importantly that will be able to support your growth in the overall advance manufacturing train,” said Overbay. “It is very laser-focused on advanced manufacturing.”
And who will be teaching these students? They were very carefully chosen current Nissan workers with years of experience building cars.
“That was a key piece of the overall Centers of Excellence, making sure that we can put our Nissan technicians into those classrooms to support the growth of those students,” said Overbay.
The hand-picked teachers spent their summer working with Eric Oslund’s education department at MTSU learning how to be teachers.
“To have an outside company as big as Nissan approach us and ask us to train their employees to be teachers was a first,” said Oslund, professor and chair of Elementary and Special Education at MTSU.
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“They absolutely chose great people, and they will be difference makers. MTSU is proud to make difference makers and I have no doubt that they will be successful,” said Oslund.
And if they are, these Centers of Excellence could be a model for training Tennessee’s workforce statewide.
It took several groups to create these Centers of Excellence – Nissan, MTSU, the Board of Regents, the high schools, and TCAT programs.
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Tennessee rowing won the program’s first SEC championship in a thrilling finish on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge.
The title came down to the final race with the varsity eight boat, which had the lead against Texas going into the final 250 meters. The Longhorns made a late push to overtake the Lady Vols, but the 1V8 crew held on for the victory to secure the SEC championship on May 10.
Tennessee narrowly beat Texas 79-75 to win the title. It’s the first time the Lady Vols have won a conference championship since 2013 when they were a member of Conference USA.
The program’s first SEC title comes in the third season under coach Kim Cupini, who has transformed Tennessee into a national powerhouse.
“Phenomenal to see that from the team”, Cupini said in a school release. “Texas coming in was the number one team in the country and had that undefeated eight. So to see the varsity eight clinch like that was awesome. I have to take my hat off to the full team to get enough points to win the SEC Championship and bring that championship home, especially here at home in Tennessee. So, I was super impressed and super proud of them.”
Tennessee moves on to the NCAA Championships at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Georgia, from May 29-31.
Tennessee narrowly beat Texas 79-75 with four total wins, which also included the 2V4, 3V8 and 3V4.
The 1V8 boat finished with a time of 6:06.939 for the win. The first varsity eight crew has beaten eight ranked opponents on the season.
The 2V4 was a crucial comeback win for Tennessee. The second varsity four crew fell behind early but caught up to and overtook Texas in the final 500 meters for the win, finishing with a time of 7:12.677.
“I think the boats on the water saw that,” Cupini said. “To be able to race from behind in the event and win is incredible. The second four, we were going crazy on that. It was a group that just got together the other day. They row together a lot as a team and as a group, but that lineup hasn’t been together. So to see them pull that off and get the win was incredible.”
Tennessee swept the third varsity races, with the 3V8 finishing with a time of 6:29.409 and the 3V4 finishing with a time of 7:16.747. The Lady Vols placed second in the 2V8 and 1V4, losing to Texas by a combined 11 seconds.
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
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Things went sideways quickly at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday as the No. 4 Texas Longhorns fell into an early hole and never recovered in a 5-1 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers that included another shoulder injury sustained by junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza.
After spending 15 games last year as the designated hitter following a shoulder injury sustained diving for a ground ball, Mendoza left the game in the first inning on a similar play, leaving head coach Jim Schlossnagle without much optimism that the Arizona State transfer will be able to return to action this weekend.
Without Mendoza in the lineup, Texas struggled at the plate against Tennessee ace Tegan Kuhns, who recorded a career-high 15 strikeouts in seven innings. Throwing 113 pitches, Kuhns allowed just four hits and one walk in his scoreless outing as the Horns ultimately struck out 19 times, leaving the bottom of the order without much production — sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez struck out all four times he came to the plate and junior designated hitter Ashton Larson, junior infielder Casey Borba, and freshman center fielder Maddox Monsour all struck out three times apiece.
Junior right fielder Aiden Robbins did have two hits — a double and a solo home run in the eighth inning — but didn’t receive help from the rest of the lineup.
And sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis looked human, a rare occurrence in his sterling career in burnt orange and white, allowing RBI doubles in the first and second innings and giving up another second-inning run on a wild pitch. Volantis recovered to throw three scoreless innings before redshirt senior right-hander Cody Howard pitched the final three innings, giving up two runs on two hits.
Texas tries to bounce back on Saturday with first pitch at 5 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.
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