G-ISD My Ride: A Program with a Flourishing Future

Aug 4

In the fall of 2019, Dr. Jennifer Wills, counselor at Georgetown High School (GHS), applied for a grant to kickstart G My Ride, a program that would combine the work of Automotive Technology students, A/V (Audio and Visual) students, and many more to give one lucky student from GHS an extraordinary gift: a free full car repair from GHS Auto Tech students.

“My hope was that with community support, we could build a program to serve the needs of our students, while also giving participating students the ability to show off what they can do,” Dr. Wills said.

With a bright vision and goals in place, the G My Ride program received a $500 grant from the GISD Education Foundation.

With the funds to kick off the very first cycle of G My Ride, students were able to apply and share why they would benefit from a free full repair. Three finalists were selected and surprised with the big news.

“The selected finalists were surprised with a celebration of GHS cheerleaders, A/V students, GHS administration, counselors – even the SkillsUSA president and vice president were there,” Dr. Wills said. “Every group played a part in it to share the good news.”

Over the 2021-22 school year, GHS A/V students filmed the entire G My Ride process while GHS Auto Tech students completed the diagnostics. In late May of 2022, the first ever episode of G My Ride was released.

“My ultimate dream would be for this program to move to East View High School (EVHS) as well, making it a GISD program rather than a GHS one,” Dr. Wills said. “I want both campuses to have contests, prize patrols – the whole experience.”

That dream came true in the spring of 2022 when Derrik Mersiovsky, EVHS Auto Tech Instructor, was one of the recipients of a $1,604.63 collective grant — along with GHS recipients Kelley Mayo, Greg Wall, Theresa Fisher, and Wills — from the GISD Education Foundation to join the efforts in creating G-ISD My Ride. As we look onto the coming 2022-23 school year, we cannot wait to see the joys that episode two will bring to students from both high schools.

In the meantime, check out G My Ride Episode 1 to gear up for what’s to come.

To learn more about the GISD Education Foundation and their teacher innovation grants, visit there website.