Kids Enjoy Chicago Auto Show Thanks to Local Businesses, Phil H.

Captions: ICCSD high school students on the Feb. 14, 2018 field trip to the Chicago Auto Show. 2. Phil Hemingway, ICCSD board member and owner/manager of Phil's Repair. 3. Tom Yates, retired City High language arts teacher. 4. ICCSD high school students at the 2017 field trip to the Chicago Auto Show. 5. Jim Conzemius, an experienced car salesman, formerly known as "Mr. Truck" because he sold so many trucks at Bob Zimmerman Ford.

Thanks to Phil Hemingway, a director of the Iowa City Community School District board, who began the annual school field trip with Patrick Eads of Deery Motors in 2017; Brian Martz, an industrial technology teacher at West High School; Jacob Schares, a math and Project Lead the Way teacher at City High; Tom Yates, a former ICCSD board director and a retired language arts teacher at City High, and 10 local businesses, about 45 City High, West High, and Liberty High School students were able to go to and enjoy the Chicago Auto Show on a field trip February 14, 2018.

The businesses and individuals who sponsored the 2018 field trip were

Deery Brothers (Ford, Lincoln) -- Patrick Eads

Deery Brothers (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep) -- A.J. Perez

Carousel Motors (VW, Mercedes, Audi, & Mazda) -- Tor Nicklaus

Carousel Nissan -- Ken Williamson

Billion (Chevy, Buick, GMC, & Cadillac) -- Levi Walker

Fountain Transmission -- Chris Fountain

Dodge Street Tire -- Brian Sekafetz

Tom Yates (retired City High teacher and former ICCSD board director)

Phil's Repair, LLC -- Phil Hemingway

Pyramid Services -- John Loughran

The car business provides many opportunities for employment, including sales, mechanics, engineering, and financing.

My husband, Jim, was a salesman at Bob Zimmerman Ford in Cedar Rapids years ago. He used to try to convince young bucks who wanted trucks that they couldn't afford to buy them. Paradoxically, he sold so many trucks his coworkers started calling him "Mr. Truck." Jim has never owned a truck himself. He's just naturally frugal and genuinely didn't want young men to spend more than they could afford, but they did anyway.

The advantage of learning to sell and finance cars at multiple dealerships is that for the rest of your life, you can go into a dealership, tell the staff approximately what they paid for the vehicle, offer them a fair profit (but not too much of a profit), and work the deal knowing what you're doing.