John Smejkal, a junior at Mount Vernon High School, has a talent for mechanics. “I work on old vehicles that need to be worked on,” he said.

Smejkal started working on vehicles about six years ago with his dad. He and his father work on all different types of vehicles, from old work cars to big trucks. They’re always working on different types of vehicles. He works on them whenever he gets the chance to and anywhere he can: at home, at work, or at school. He works on all different types of parts on the vehicle, such as small parts in the engine, to the bigger parts all around the car.

He has also taken multiple classes at school to help him build his knowledge on different engine components and vehicle parts. He took Auto Mechanics and Flexible Manufacturing. In Auto Mechanics, you mainly focus on working with the basic parts of a vehicle, and Flexible Manufacturing allows students to reinforce, apply, and transfer academic knowledge and skills to a variety of interesting activities, such as welding and delving deeper into the engine.

When asked if he had any advice for someone who is interested in working on vehicles, he said in a joking manner, “Don’t do it, it’s not really that interesting or fun, but it passes the time.” His favorite car that he has ever worked on is the car he is working on now, which is “a clapbox truck.” He said, “A clapbox truck is a truck that is very worn out.”

Smejkal is a car enthusiast; he loves working on cars and trucks.