I believe it’s imperative to give back to younger generations after four decades in industry. I love seeing students learn – they’re like sponges, eagerly absorbing the lessons. Bendix is giving them exciting insights into potential career paths in the skilled trades.

I love seeing our students learn – they are like sponges, eagerly absorbing the new knowledge we share with them. And I hear all the time from parents about the transformations they see in their children thanks to their experiences at Bendix.

I’m a retired mechanical engineer and believe it’s imperative to give back to younger generations the knowledge I gleaned after four decades in industry.

There are precious few opportunities for today’s youth to learn fundamental skills in the use of tools. Bendix Academy provides a unique and important venue for adolescents to acquire valuable hands-on skills unavailable in the schools. Their experiences also provide them valuable and exciting insights into potential career paths in the skilled trades.

-Alex Mangani, Bendix Academy Mentor

My son has Asperger’s Syndrome, a high functioning condition on the Autism Spectrum. Grey has a savant memory of fact and details, but his condition makes it difficult for him to socialize, engage, and fit in with children his own age. In middle school he was very shy, lacked confidence, and was severely introverted.

For years, I tried find ways to help Grey embrace and appreciate his unique gift, but it was always challenging. He has a love of learning and a need to learn things that our schools and I could not provide. As a single mother, I was stressed.

Then came Bendix Academy.

A serendipitous encounter one afternoon led to Grey’s participation in a program that fostered his natural and unique talents and unleashed his untapped potential. Working alongside a team of mechanically minded mentors at Bendix, Grey found his calling and his “happy place”.

He spends countless hours at the Academy, learning toolmanship skills and forming relationships with adults who grow his confidence, foster his interests, and build a skillset he’d never have been able to acquire anywhere else.

This incredible, unique program took Grey to the next level, helping him unearth a passion for mechanical ingenuity. Through positive reinforcement for all he was learning, he was given a space to build on his natural interest, his innate curiosity, and God-given talents. He’s becoming fluent in the art of trade skills and has laid a launching pad for his self-starting curiosity, self-confidence, and his future.

In just three short months, I went from seeing my son enter middle school feeling isolated, shunned, and outcast and transform into to a young man full of passion and maturity. Today as a high schooler, he thrives in social settings and is confident in his interactions.

Grey has come so very far because of his experiences at Bendix Academy. And for that, I am grateful beyond words.

– Genessa Lane Claeys, Grey’s mother

Serving as a mentor at Bendix gives me the opportunity to convey my life and career skills to young people. We are familiarizing them with many skills used both in the home and in professional trade positions.

Day after day here, I watch their confidence grow in so many ways. I witness the satisfaction they get with the hands-on problem solving our lessons provide.

My payback in all of this? Seeing the smiles on the students’ faces as they learn new skills. And parents’ excitement in watching their child mature by experiencing Bendix’s toolmanship program.

-Rodney Beckwith III, Bendix Academy Mentor

My son was part of the first class at Bendix Academy. Leland’s involvement in Bendix has been a truly formative and amazing experience for my him.

The exposure to tools, machinery, and industry at his age greatly broadened his view of not only himself, but also his future. It’s clear that every Bendix mentor is driven by the love of their craft and relish the opportunity to pass on their skills to the young men and women who participate.

The skills and friendships Leland developed at Bendix have had a huge positive impact on his life and on his future expectations. His experiences impacted him so much that he has chosen aeronautical engineering as a university and career goal.

Bendix Academy is a rare and unique asset and we are so blessed to have benefited from their convergence of incredibly talented people.

– Doug Raven, Father of Bendix student Leland

I remember the workbench in our basement my dad had filled with tools. I loved using every one of them. Over summer vacations, I’d build model planes, rebuild my bike, and fix vacuums and lawnmowers. Back then, too, schools had woodshop, metal shop, and auto shop. Some even had electrical classes. All this led me to fulfilling 40-year career in automotive electronics industry. 

 Today many of those basement and garage workshops – and those valuable school classes – are all but gone. 

 Thankfully, Bendix Academy is here to give kids an important introduction to tools and equipment and their use and mechanical and electrical principles. Here I get to see students experience the pride of completing projects by their own hands like I did when I was a kid. At Bendix Academy, we are empowering our youth for today. And we are planting seeds for their futures! 

 –David Stoscup, Bendix Academy Mentor