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Yarrabilba, Queensland — May 7, 2026 — Year 11 students at San Damiano College are turning a donated Subaru Outback into a working vehicle for charity, swapping textbooks for torque wrenches one afternoon a week. The students are completing the Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation, a hands-on qualification that often sends learners to external workshops. At San Damiano, the whole restoration is happening on campus, and the finished car will be handed to 5Fold, a charity that helps 16-to-24-year-olds get free driving lessons.
The car was donated by Tactile Learning CEO David Kelly and his father. Eight students have been splitting the work into weekly afternoon sessions, carrying out inspections, repairs and safety checks. When the Subaru is ready, it has to meet the same roadworthiness standards as any other vehicle on Queensland roads. That real-world requirement changes the way students approach the project.
The destination of the Subaru is what makes this more than a shop class exercise. 5Fold runs a program called Road Ready, which connects young people with free driving lessons. For many 16-to-24-year-olds, the cost of lessons, access to a car and the confidence to get behind the wheel are genuine barriers. This restored vehicle will become part of that effort, giving instructors a reliable car to teach in.
For Year 11 student Nathan Buckley, knowing the Subaru will be used by someone who needs it gives the work a deeper purpose. He said working on a genuine vehicle that would benefit other young people made the project especially meaningful. It's not just about passing an assessment. It's about handing over keys to a car that can change someone's ability to reach work, school and appointments.
One point that sets this program apart is its location. Many automotive courses require students to travel to off-campus training providers. San Damiano looked at that model and decided to bring the work to the school instead. That means students can see the whole arc of the project, from the first inspection of a donated car to the final preparation before delivery.
The on-site setup also encourages a steady, repeatable rhythm. Students can ask questions while they're working, and teachers can connect what's happening under the hood with the theory behind it. For learners who don't respond well to lectures, this approach gives them a way to build knowledge with their hands.
Deputy principal Roshea Buksh said the school designed the program with those students in mind. “Not every student thrives in a traditional classroom environment,” she said, “and automotive studies provides a practical learning experience for students who prefer to learn by doing.” The program, she said, was born from a desire to offer tactile, meaningful learning opportunities alongside more conventional subjects.
The program is also attracting interest from students who might not have considered an automotive pathway in the past. Buksh said the school had seen a strong uptake from girls, including three female students who graduated through the course last year. That mix matters because vocational education often gets pigeonholed, even though the skills it teaches are valuable across the whole workforce.
Those three graduates are now examples for younger students. They show that automotive training isn't limited to one type of learner or one career path. The trade offers opportunities in mechanical repair, parts and service management, logistics, and a range of related industries.
The program is delivered with Tactile Learning, a Queensland registered training organisation that specialises in practical vocational education for secondary students. Its chief executive, David Kelly, said the Subaru restoration works because it gives students a real project with a real client. Projects like this, he said, show what happens when vocational education moves out of the classroom and gives students a genuine purpose and the chance to see tangible results.
Kelly and his father also backed the project financially by donating the Subaru. For students, that gesture reinforces a simple lesson: someone in the community believed in their work enough to invest in it. That kind of trust can be a powerful motivator.
For American school districts looking at career and technical education, the Yarrabilba project offers a useful blueprint. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics points to steady demand for automotive service technicians and mechanics, with tens of thousands of openings projected each year. Employers often say they want graduates who have spent real time with real equipment, not just students who passed a written test.
The San Damiano model layers a service component on top of technical training. That civic angle makes the work feel less like a job simulation and more like a contribution to the community. Students aren't building something for a bin or a fundraiser; they're restoring a vehicle that will help another young person gain independence. That sense of purpose can improve attendance, focus and skill retention.
The team is aiming to make the Subaru roadworthy and deliver it to 5Fold before the end of the school year. That deadline is part of the lesson. Working on a car isn't open-ended. Repairs have to fit inside a schedule, a budget and a clear set of safety requirements.
For the students involved, the payoff will come on the day someone else climbs into the driver's seat and drives away. For the school, the project reinforces a broader message: education can be measured in more than grades. A donated car, eight students and one afternoon a week might not sound like much on paper. By the end of the year, it will add up to a road-ready vehicle with a new purpose in the community.
