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By Mike Barnhardt

Enterprise Record

The Spring Fling at Davie High School won’t be your average auto show.

It is scheduled for Saturday, May 14 on the school campus off Farmington Road near I-40, just east of Mocksville. It was re-scheduled from April 30 because of a threat of inclement weather.

Not only will the show raise money for the schools Skills USA and War Eagle Motorsports teams, plenty of food and activities are planned to go along with the auto show.

Expect to see Tamsen Beroth, a 2000 Davie High graduate, owner/president of Speedology Lifestyle Solutions and an amatuer drag racer. She’s helping organize the event, and may even bring along her Nissan GT-R drag car. She invalidated the warranty within an hour of buying the car, but that’s another story.

There will be other display vehicles, in addition to area residents entering vehicles in the competition. There will be plenty of food trucks, kids activities and a DJ providing music.

She has lined up an array of businesses that cater to the automotive industry. Most need workers. And the car show is being held to raise money to help train those future workers. Other sponsors will also be there, like Gildan and Avgol, explaining jobs they offer.

“It’s kind of turned into a job fair, too,” she said. “I want the students to learn a network of people who want to help them grow and succeed. They need workforce. They need a future.”

Admission to the show, on the school campus off Farmington Road near I-40, will be $5. Vehicle show entry is $20 in the following categories: best of show, people’s choice, imports, domestics, exotics, bikes, trucks/SUVs/Jeeps.

“We will have a very impressive and diverse VIP section that will include special and rare vehicles along with our sponsors Flow Auto, HBI, and Tuttle Motorsports, who will be showcasing some of their amazing inventory. Davidson-Davie Community College and NASCAR Technical Institute will have trailers, equipment, and vehicles on display, some of it being interactive.”

Students have been actively involved in getting the show together, making commemorative plaques that will go to the first 100 entrants who show up. Students designed the t-shirt. Others printed it. Students designed, then made the trophies. The list goes on. “The students have been more than amazing. They really care about the community.”

“I want the students to feel engaged,” she said. “They are going to help run the event. I want these kids to dig deep and see what the community offers and when they give back, there is an opportunity for both.”

Beroth believes in the Skills classes, because they help train students for real jobs in the real world – jobs that will likely always be around. “I want people to understand there’s so much opportunity here. I want these kids to come up and talk to me. You don’t have to go far to be successful.”

“If I can make one positive outcome, or an internship, a mentorship, a job, I’ve accomplished my goal.”

Beroth got her love of auto shows and cars naturally. Her father worked with NASCAR and RJ Reynolds automotive promotion department. In other words, she grew up around race tracks and car shows.

“People reminisce about cars,” she said. “I’ve always liked racing and cars. Cars have always been part of my identity.”

“The car show is a group effort of passionate people rallying together to create an event that benefits students monetarily and in life experience. Students are able to see economics, graphic design, marketing, welding, social media, computer science, and so much more in bringing this car show to fruition and are directly involved in that process,” said Will Marrs, Davie High graduate who teaches drafting and engineering.

Brittani Steger, who teaches sports & entertainment marketing, values the auto show because students can apply what they learn to a real-life event.

“Many students often question why they are being taught a particular subject matter because they don’t think they will use it in the future. This event helps combat that thought process,” she said. “Being involved in the community and having the community support our school and our students means the world. I can’t wait to see the turnout.”

Morgan Creason is one of the students who has applied what he has learned in class to the car show. He and  Autumn Harbour designed the t-shirt through Steger’s course.

“It meant a lot to be a small part of our school’s auto show. I loved that Sports & Entertainment Marketing students had the opportunity to display their talents and what they had learned in the classroom. It was fun to compare and contrast ideas to build the best product. I am honored to have my design chosen as the front of the event t-shirt. I’ve never considered myself to be very artistic, but I guess I proved myself wrong. I had a ton of fun working on this and letting my ideas come to fruition,” said Creason. “Two teachers really helped me with this design. Mrs. Steger taught me the elements that I needed in an event design, and Mr. Marrs taught me how to apply those elements to create an atmosphere around the design.”

Local writer Jeanna Baxter White contributed to this story.