CHARLOTTE, N.C. — High school teacher Micheal Lopez has made it his mission to teach students skills they can use forever.

Lopez arrived at Independence High School in 2018.

What You Need To Know

Lopez was recently named Teacher of the Year at Independence High School

He teaches two automotive classes at the school

Kids learn how to take cars apart and put them back together

He built the automotive shop at the school from scratch

He built their automotive shop class from the ground up, and became the school’s teacher of the year for 2021-22.

He says the lessons not only teach kids how to assemble cars but also to develop life skills.

“This world is college, college, college. College, hands down, is a definite great path to take and puts you in a field that you can have a good living,” Lopez said. “But doesn’t displace having hands-on experiences and being out in a field, any field. And again learning a basic tool set, skill set.”

Lopez says many students leave his class with jobs secured in the automotive field or a nice side job at a garage as they head off to college.