Wawasee High School students Preston Silcox, left, and Jerry Hochstetler dealt with the challenge of installing a motor in a waverunner.

SYRACUSE — Just a couple of years ago, the marine mechanics program for Wawasee High School was in its first year and though hopes were high, no one was quite sure just how much it would grow. It has grown and reached a point where some students likely won’t be accepted because it is at a maximum level.

Derrick Fisher, instructor, said there are two classes with 15 students in each. One meets in the morning and the other in the afternoon and each is a half day. It is a two year program for mostly juniors and seniors.

Not only has the number of students grown but the classroom was doubled in size for this school year, Fisher noted. And the program now includes powersports in addition to the marine side. Powersports would include four-wheelers, dirt bikes, ATVs, motorcycles and more. “We now have more knowledge base,” he said.

Some new equipment has been added too, including a waverunner pit, overhead hoist for picking up boats and other equipment and a crane.

Keeping with the increasing emphasis on hands-on learning, this program is just that. “It’s good hands-on experience for the students,” Fisher said. “They learn about electric diagnosis of engines and they rebuild engines all the time.” The marine side would include boats of various types and other watercraft such as waverunners and more.

Hands-on experience is important because if a student chooses to pursue employment with a marina, they will need to be able to do the work, “not just read the service manuals,” Fisher noted. A marina is more likely to hire someone who already has the experience so they won’t have to invest as much in training. He also said about 90 percent of the program is hands-on and the rest is classroom work.

In an area where there are several lakes not just locally but also within Kosciusko County and surrounding counties, marine mechanics and powersports is a natural fit. And more local colleges are beginning to offer classes to further the training of students, he added.

Students work on equipment for teachers and staff members. “We don’t do work for the public,” he said, so work will not be taken away from local marinas. But many of the area marinas have generously donated boat and other watercraft engines, as well as boats, for the students to work on.

In addition to the experience gained from working on engines, students can also earn actual certifications. Those include a Can-Am certification for four-wheelers, Evinrude certification for outboards and a forklift certification.

Fisher said he wants to see the program get better each year, for the knowledge base to expand and also to obtain newer technology. Earlier this year students took a tour of Rinker Boat Company just across Chicago Street to see how boats are built. And when the ice is gone off the lakes, students will get on the water training on how to drive boats.

Marine mechanics and powersports, now in its third school year, is one of the programs offered through the Wawasee Area Career and Technical Cooperative.

From left, Wawasee students Chase Ritter, Chase Rookstool and Logan Brugh are installing a carburetor in a Ranger bass boat.