Outgoing Police Chief Paul Suba needed some repairs done on two Guam Police Department vehicles earlier this month, so he approached GCC President Dr. Mary Okada about having GCC’s automotive department do the work.
After consulting with department officials, Okada then drafted a memorandum of agreement under which apprentices and students in GCC’s post-secondary transmission class would do the repairs, and GPD would provide the parts.
The four apprentices in the class, Fred Baldwin and Journey Beltran from Cars Plus, Frankie Cruz from Judiciary of Guam, and Donna Penn from GPD were among the 20 students that performed the repairs.
GCC automotive department chairman Christopher Dennis said one of the cars wouldn’t start, and when the students troubleshot it, they discovered the vehicle needed a fuel pump replaced. The other vehicle needed its transmission replaced.
“These repairs helped the students to realize what to expect in the real world of auto repair,” said GCC instructor Lyndon Pajarillo of the work involved.
Dennis noted that having GCC perform the repairs saved the police department over $2000 in labor costs.
Suba said the cooperation between GCC and the Guam Police Department “has been remarkable to say the least, and GCC’s apprenticeship programs exemplify the best of services that government can provide to our entire community.”
“GCC is happy to help our fellow government agencies whenever possible,” Okada said. “This interagency cooperation helps our students gain real-world experience, and saves other agencies money as well. It’s a win-win situation.”
GPD has several more vehicles that need repairs, and Dennis says GCC will be happy to help out once automotive classes start up again in August.
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