Ahnapee Diesel
Ahnapee Diesel is an educational initiative of the Luxemburg-Casco School District located within the Casco Career Academy at 619 Church Ave. in Casco. Its facility features a 4,200-square-foot main instructional area, along with a 1,000-square-foot classroom space.
INSTRUCTORS
To be announced...
QUESTIONS?
If you're interested in the program but have some questions, contact one of the coordinators below.
MR. MIKE SNOWBERRY
Directory of Learning Services
(920) 845-2336 x122
MS. JENNIFER JOHNSON
Youth Apprenticeship Coordinator
(920) 845-2336 x489
Ahnapee Diesel is the first credit-bearing, diesel-only high school education program in Wisconsin and one of roughly 20 such programs nationwide.
Through the program, students in their junior and senior years are provided with the opportunity to earn college credits while also receiving credit towards high school graduation through this partnership with Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC).
Upon successful completion of NWTC’s Diesel Maintenance Technician (DMT) curriculum while in high school, students attain a one-year technical diploma. Following graduation from high school, students can choose to pursue a technical diploma as a Diesel Heavy Equipment Technician or a Diesel Medium & Heavy Truck Technician. Associate degrees in either Diesel Heavy Equipment Technology or Diesel Medium & Heavy Truck Technology also are possible student pathways.
The required 26 credits include courses such as Transportation Welding 1 & 2, Diesel Lab Operations, Intro to Diesel Mechanics, Intro to Electrical Systems, Diesel Heavy Duty Electrical 1 & 2, Chassis Sub-Systems, Hydraulic/Pneumatic Systems, and Engine Sub-Systems.
Ahnapee Diesel is made possible by meaningful partnerships with area companies and the regional transportation industry. Supporters of Ahnapee Diesel include Packer City International Trucks, America’s Service Line, Master Fleet, Kinnard Farms, Kriete Truck Center, Paper Transport Inc., Roland Machinery, Komatsu, Bobcat Plus, CSM Companies (aka Wisconsin Kenworth), Cummins Sales & Service, Debroux Custom Work, Dorner Inc., Ducat Trucking, Joski Trucking, Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy, Peters Concrete, Rio Creek Feed Mill, Service Motor Company, Somerville Architects and WEL Companies.
More than $425,000 in combined financial and in-kind contributions, including a variety of diesel equipment, was donated to Ahnapee Diesel to help get the program off the ground at its outset in the 2021-22 school year.
The program is a consortium of area schools including Luxemburg-Casco, Denmark and Kewaunee.
“We see the value in building a future workforce of diesel maintenance technicians, and the Luxemburg-Casco program will go a long way in doing that,” says Mark Adams, vice president at Packer City International Trucks. “We were impressed with the forethought and vision in putting this program together and are excited about the partnership.”
America’s Service Line, an American Foods Group company, also was a major donor to the program. “In a world where a college education seems to be the only way of life, we need to remember some people just aren’t cut from that cloth,” says David Geise, fleet maintenance director at America’s Service Line. “These people come out of high school with some asking, ‘Now what?’ Teaching the basics of the mechanical trades is natural as it usually will pique their interest and set them up in a trade that can supply a better income than a lot of college educations. We need more people in our industry, and we need to get back to the high schools to quite literally farm them.”
Nearly 20 local and transportation-based companies have donated to the L-C diesel program. These also include Master Fleet, Kinnard Farms, Kriete Truck Center, Somerville Architects, Rio Creek Feedmill, WEL Companies, CSM Companies (aka Wisconsin Kenworth), DeBroux Custom Work, Pagels Ponderosa Dairy, Paper Transport Inc., Peters Concrete, Ducat Trucking, Dorner Inc., Service Motor Company, Roland Machinery Co., Joski Trucking, and Cummins Sales & Service.
“With the help of many area companies who have been willing to form strong partnerships with L-C, we are able to create a workspace mirroring that of a professional diesel mechanic,” says Mike Snowberry, the district’s director of learning services who is guiding the program’s creation. “Our students will have quality instruction and fully equipped, professional-quality toolboxes, along with the new facilities. Almost all of the students in the diesel program have been placed in the Ahnapee Youth Apprenticeship program with our partner businesses. We believe that the L-C diesel program will be a win-win for our students and the local business community.”
