Ryan Driesbach is the February 2016 Student of the Month at Eastern Center for Arts and Technology (EASTERN) in Willow Grove. He is in EASTERN's Collision Repair Technology program and a senior at Upper Moreland High School. The Student of the Month Award is sponsored by EASTERN's faculty, Joint Committee and the Willow Grove Rotary Club to highlight student excellence, success and service. Ten students each year are selected for this honor.

 

Ryan always had an interest in cars and, while in high school, he had some friends who were enrolled in the Collision Repair Technology class at EASTERN and they spoke highly of the program and the instructor.  Ryan decided to give the program a try, and today he is a leader in the class. Through Ryan's Collision Repair Technology program, he now holds industry certification such as, Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) and Safety and Pollution Safety (S/P2).

 

At EASTERN, Ryan is involved in EASTERN's student leadership organization, SkillsUSA, and is currently the SkillsUSA Collision Repair Technology class representative.  During both the 2014 - 2015 and 2015 - 2016 school years, he was chosen by his instructor to attend the SkillsUSA Fall Leadership Conference in the Poconos, where he returned with several medals. As a junior, he received first place in the SkillsUSA Local Competition for Collision Repair Technology, and then went on to place fourth at the SkillsUSA District 2 Competition.  Again this year, Ryan placed first in the SkillsUSA Local Competition, and will be competing at the SkillsUSA District 2 Competition.  He is also the student representative for the Collision Repair Technology class's Occupational Advisory Committee, which is a group of professionals from local business and industry that volunteer their time and expertise to help EASTERN's instructors and administration to keep our curriculum cutting-edge and industry standard.

 

Last summer, Ryan volunteered as a student teacher for EASTERN's Summer Fun Automotive and Collision Repair program for middle school students. He also volunteers his time to local charities such as Meals on Wheels and the Kisses for Kyle Foundation.  He is also involved as a production staff member, lighting and equipment operator, stage crew member, and stage director for both the Jenkintown Music Theater and the Willow Manor Theater.

 

Ryan is currently employed part-time at Vintage Autobody in Hatboro.  After graduation from Upper Moreland High School and EASTERN, Ryan plans to attend Universal Technical Institute (UTI) to study collision repair, motorcycle tech and restoration/customer repair.  After competing his coursework at UTI, Ryan would like to attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania for his Bachelor of Science in Vocational Technical Education so that he can eventually teach at EASTERN.