A donation of 15 teaching resources for the mechanics program at Garden Valley Collegiate Technical Education Campus (GVC TEC) in Winkler was delivered Thursday morning.

Large crates filled with engines, electronic transmissions, simulators, four-wheel-drive transfer mechanisms, and more offer the students a hands-on approach to learning how vehicles run.

"This is really incredible," said mechanics instructor, Jonathan Kreiser. Kreiser has been teaching for nine of the 10 and a half years the mechanics program has existed at GVC TEC.

"You can talk about something as much as you want, but when the kids can actually touch it, test it, that kind of stuff, you take the learning way higher than just talking about it or reading about it in a textbook. Resources like this really are invaluable."

Part of the mechanics students' education is learning about the electronics in vehicles, which involves small hidden wires and circuits that normally aren't accessible. With the new resources, students can learn better how vehicles work and how the electronic parts work together.

The donated simulators and parts are mostly stripped of any casings so students can observe exactly how the inner-workings behave.

"[The resources] are designed for [students] to learn new, complicated electronic systems in cars," said John Vandenberg, president of Injectronics in Clandeboye, MB and the man who donated the resources.

Vandenberg has instructed automotive mechanics through his business for 32 years, and now that the resources are past their prime, though still highly valuable to GVC TEC, he decided to donate them where they could do the most good.

"Our ultimate goal," he said, "is to encourage students into the field, but also, when they get into the field, that they have a higher experience level, and it gives them a big advantage."

"Information is invaluable," said Bart McCartney, owner of BG Autoshop in Winkler.

"They need information at all times, but having on-hand stuff I think will only help."

As a teaching tool, Kreiser plans to use more hands-on lessons with his students now that the book-knowledge can be easily applied in the classroom. Each individual resource is valued between $15,000 and $20,000.