Nissan/Infiniti Technical Training Specialists John Buskey, right, and Darrin Schlegel, left, arrived Monday with the automaker’s latest gift – a 2009 Nisan Maxima valued at $13,630. They were met by LCTI Auto Tech instructor Michael Bernadyn, center.

SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. | Nissan North America Inc. representatives this week delivered the third vehicle the company has donated to Lehigh Career & Technical Institute in a year.

Nissan/Infiniti Technical Training Specialists John Buskey and Darrin Schlegel arrived Monday with the automaker’s latest gift – a 2009 Nisan Maxima valued at $13,630. They were met by a grateful Michael Bernadyn, the LCTI Auto Technology program instructor who forged what has proven to be a fruitful relationship with Nissan.

The company donated a 2014 Nissan Versa valued at $9,300 to the school in August 2015 and followed up in September of that year with a 2005 Infiniti QX56 valued at $16,554.

Even with Nissan’s generosity, most of LCTI’s Auto Tech program vehicles were manufactured by domestic automakers, so adding a Maxima to the mix means LCTI can offer students a more diversified training experience and better prepare them for success in the workplace, Bernadyn said. Many of his students intern and, ultimately, go to work for car dealerships that sell and service vehicles produced by automakers based outside the U.S., he said.

Nissan’s 2015 delivery of the Versa marked the first time in more than a decade that a foreign-owned automaker had donated a vehicle to LCTI. Bernadyn said he is thankful for the company’s commitment to educating the next generation of auto technicians.

Impressed by LCTI students’ consistent and often award-winning contest performances, Nissan officials approached Bernadyn last year in New York at the National Auto-Tech Competition and proposed a vehicle donation. They toured the school’s Auto Tech facilities and gained a deeper understanding of the program’s offerings and needs during delivery of the Versa. Further impressed by the program and its students, they decided to donate the QX56 and, now, the Maxima.

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Media Contact: Precious Petty, Public Relations Coordinator, 610-799-1450, pettyp@lcti.org

Learn more about how the Auto Technology program at LCTI prepares students for lifelong learning and successful careers!