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Landon Rosenthal, a senior at Kings Fork High School, is one of two students in the state to complete 100% of the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certificates offered at the College and Career Academy at Pruden (CCAP). This achievement has landed him a job as a technician at Barton Ford, which he said is “super exciting” and he can’t wait to start working.

Rosenthal’s parents said his love and knack for mechanics began when he was young. 

“His mother and I have known since he was a little kid, that that’s all he’s ever talked about, is being a mechanic, getting the opportunity to not only work on any type of vehicles, but to learn the engineering side and to learn how to pursue making something better,” his dad, Sam Rosenthal, said.

His mother reminisced about him taking apart a motorcycle and putting it back together at seven years old. She said he’s always shown dedication to this kind of work.

CCAP works with sophomores, juniors, and seniors at Lakeland, Nansemond River, and King’s Fork High Schools. The school offers 17 Career and Technical education programs that allow students to achieve high school and college credits. CCAP offers courses in autobody technology, cosmetology, the culinary arts, electricity, and welding among others. 

Rosenthal is taking CCAP’s automotive service technology classes, and said the ASE training he completed allowed him to learn more outside of class. The ASE certification provides training in five different areas: engine repair, suspension and steering, brakes, electrical/electronic systems, and auto maintenance and light repair.

“It’s been a great help, especially with learning new things, like mainly electrical transmissions, any more of the complex stuff that we really don’t cover in class due to either time or it’s not in the curriculum, but it helps tremendously understanding new things,” he said.

Justin Nemeth is Rosenthal’s automotive teacher and said in the four years he’s been doing this program, Rosenthal is the first student who completed all his ASE certificates.

Nemeth described Rosenthal as driven, and said he never takes a day off from learning. He said Rosenthal will be a “very good technician.”

CCAP Principal, Johnetta Vaughan, said she noticed Rosenthal was always “one of the brightest students in the class.” She also mentioned his humbleness and his constant participation in class.

To complete all the training necessary for any For technician, Rosenthal is considering the different programs available to him. He said he’s considering the Ford program at TCC and Ford’s own education and training program. 

In terms of the CCAP programs as a whole, Vaughan said she hopes this is just the beginning of partnerships between CCAP and other businesses. 

Rosenthal’s dad highlighted the programs CCAP has to offer, as he will have had two kids who have gone through the program.

“What they have, and the abilities here to teach and give people a leg up in the community coming together, where you go to school here and then you have a job offer. This is unbelievable,” he said. “And this is what Suffolk does, and the opportunities these kids have here, I just hope everybody recognizes this is an amazing opportunity and an amazing environment.”