Ever since I was a kid, I considered myself as having a mechanical intellect. As a toddler, I used to flip bikes upside down, spin the pedal sprocket, and watch how the chain mechanism worked.

As I grew older, I was curious about how different things worked – steam locomotives, the electric motors on our fan, and the old alarm clock on my nightstand. Though curious, I realized I was never really motivated to dive in to learn or understand how they functioned or operated.

Until I found Bendix Academy.

I was 11 then and began to learn about different fasteners, metal works, sandblasting, riveting, and lots more. It was there that something sparked in me I had never felt before: ambition.

Three years into lessons, I stopped by an estate sale and bought a vintage GE fan for $5.

Back home, I took it apart, cleaned the copper coils, changed out the wiring, and cleaned rust off with a wire brush. I turned around and sold it for $35! That was the start of my journey. Today I fix up old engines, outboards motors, and chainsaws and sell them. I’m also branching out into working on cars and trucks.

If it weren’t for Bendix, I would not be who I am today. We need more youth like me find the shovel of ambition to explore and dig deep into their passions for toolmanship and mechanics.

– Grey, former Bendix Student 

Being a Bendix mentor is an excellent way for people like me – retired engineers, pilots, DIY enthusiasts – to pass on lifetimes of experience and time-honored skills to younger generations.

Bendix’s toolmanship program is a valuable asset, providing kids with important tool and equipment knowledge and their applicability to mechanical solutions. Our work here is fostering design creativity and problem solving in our youth. I really enjoy knowing that my work here is inspiring and assisting kids to pursue their passions.  

-Ralph Lange, Bendix Academy Mentor 

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 

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

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