Daniel Diezi
Diesel Mechanic Coordinator
Room Number: 700
Email: ddiezi@bellvillebrahmas.org
Meeting dates, times, and location still need to be confirmed with Mr. Diezi.
The Bellville High School Diesel Mechanic program gives students hands-on experience developing mechanical, diagnostic, fabrication, and repair skills. Students may also use those skills in competitions and other FFA-related activities. Coverage should focus on the students, projects, skills, problem-solving, preparation, and competition experiences behind the program.
- Student projects, repairs, and builds
- New skills, equipment, and techniques being learned
- Hands-on work in the shop
- Preparing for competitions
- Competition results and student accomplishments
- Difficult repairs or mechanical problems students solve
- Fabrication, welding, diagnostics, and engine work
- Students mastering a new or challenging skill
- Teamwork and preparation behind competition projects
- Certifications and industry credentials earned
- Student leadership and mentoring
- Career opportunities and plans after graduation
- Special projects or unusual vehicles and equipment
- Major milestones and program accomplishments
Covering the Bellville Diesel Mechanic Beat
Start Here
- Introduce yourself to Mr. Diezi and explain that you are covering Diesel Mechanic for the BVP Newsroom.
- Ask how the Diesel Mechanic program works and how competitions fit into the program.
- Ask how he prefers to be contacted and how far in advance interviews, photography, or video coverage should be arranged.
- Request the current schedule of competitions, projects, certification testing, and other important dates.
- Find out what students are currently building, repairing, diagnosing, or preparing for competition.
- Ask which competitions Bellville students participate in and how students qualify or are selected.
- Ask what skills students are expected to demonstrate in competition.
- Find out which students are preparing for certifications or other major accomplishments.
- Ask whether there are restrictions or safety requirements for photographing or filming in the shop.
- Check with Mr. Diezi regularly for updates and possible stories.
- When you discover a possible story, submit it as a pitch before beginning full coverage unless your teacher tells you otherwise.
Your Responsibilities
- Check for Diesel Mechanic updates at least once each news cycle.
- Maintain contact with Mr. Diezi and students in the program.
- Keep track of competitions, certification opportunities, major projects, deadlines, and results.
- Watch students while they diagnose problems, make repairs, fabricate parts, test their work, and develop new skills.
- Look for stories involving difficult problems, unusual projects, major improvements, or students mastering challenging skills.
- Pay attention to competition preparation, not just the final results.
- Look for students earning certifications, awards, placements, or other accomplishments.
- Watch for teamwork, leadership, and experienced students helping others.
- Pitch promising stories to the newsroom.
- Arrange interviews, photography, and video coverage in advance.
- Confirm student names, competition names, placements, certifications, dates, and technical details before publication.
- Follow up after competitions, certification testing, and major projects to find out what happened and what comes next.
Important
A finished repair or a competition result isn’t necessarily the whole story. Your job is to find out what happened between the problem and the solution.
A truck that finally runs correctly may represent hours of troubleshooting. A competition placement may come after weeks of practice. A certification may represent months of learning. Ask what wasn’t working, how students diagnosed the problem, what they tried, what failed, what finally worked, and what they learned along the way.
You also don’t have to be a diesel mechanic to report the story. Ask students to explain technical information in plain language. If you can understand what they did and why it mattered, you’ll be better prepared to explain it to your audience.
Reporting Your Diesel Mechanic Stories
Possible Story Ideas
- Students preparing for an upcoming diesel or mechanics competition
- A student earning an industry certification
- A difficult repair or diagnostic problem students successfully solve
- A major engine, vehicle, or equipment project
- Students learning a new mechanical or fabrication skill
- Competition results and what happened during the event
- A student or team overcoming a problem during competition
- Welding, fabrication, electrical, diagnostic, or engine work
- Students using specialized tools or equipment
- Experienced students helping newer students develop their skills
- A student pursuing diesel mechanics as a career
- An unusual vehicle, engine, or project brought into the shop
- Improvements students make between practices or competitions
Signs There May Be A Story
Pay attention when:
- Students begin preparing for a competition.
- Someone is working on an unusual or especially difficult project.
- Something doesn’t work the first time and students have to figure out why.
- A student masters a difficult skill.
- Students are preparing for certification testing.
- A student earns a certification, award, or competition placement.
- A project reaches an important milestone or is finally completed.
- Students dramatically improve their competition performance.
- A student develops an interesting solution to a mechanical problem.
- Something unexpected happens during a project or competition.
Questions to Ask: The 5 W's and 1 H
You will not necessarily ask every question below. Select the questions that fit your story and ask follow-up questions whenever an answer is unclear or incomplete.
Who was involved?
- Which students were involved?
- Who was primarily responsible for the project, repair, or competition event?
- Who helped diagnose or solve the problem?
- Who taught or demonstrated the skills being used?
- Who worked together on the project?
- Who should be recognized for making it successful?
What happened?
- What were the students working on or preparing for?
- What was the goal of the project, repair, or competition?
- What mechanical problem needed to be diagnosed or solved?
- What skills, tools, or equipment were required?
- What was particularly difficult?
- What went wrong, and what did students do to correct it?
- What was the final result?
When did it happen?
- When did work or preparation begin?
- How long did the project, repair, or preparation take?
- When did the competition, certification test, or event occur?
- How much time did students spend practicing or working on it?
- What comes next?
Where did it happen?
- Where did students work on the project or prepare?
- Where was the competition, certification test, or event held?
- Was any work completed somewhere other than the school shop?
- Where will students compete or demonstrate these skills next?
Why does it matter?
- Why was this project, repair, competition, or certification important?
- Why was the problem difficult to solve?
- Why did students choose the approach they used?
- Why is learning this particular skill valuable?
- Why does this accomplishment matter to the student?
- How could these skills help the student in a future career?
- Why should someone outside the Diesel Mechanic program care about this story?
How did it happen?
- How did students diagnose the problem?
- How did they determine what needed to be repaired or changed?
- How did they prepare for the competition or certification?
- How did students divide the work?
- How were the tools, equipment, or techniques used?
- How did students overcome problems or failed attempts?
- How many attempts or changes did it take to get it right?
- How did the finished result compare with where they started?
People You May Need to Interview
Depending on the story, consider interviewing:
- Mr. Daniel Diezi
- Students working on the project
- Students competing in the event
- Students earning certifications
- Team members or competition partners
- Student leaders or experienced students helping others
- Judges, instructors, or event officials when appropriate
- Other students who witnessed an important moment or problem
You won’t need everyone. Interview the people who actually know what happened and can explain why it matters.
What You Need to Collect
Depending on the story, collect:
- Correct names and grade levels
- Project, competition, or event name
- Dates and locations
- Competition results or placements
- Certification earned
- Photographs of students actually doing the work
- Close-up photographs of tools, parts, engines, or finished projects
- Before-and-after photographs when appropriate
- Video of diagnosing, repairing, welding, fabricating, testing, or competing
- Quotes explaining the challenge, process, and outcome
- Enough technical information to accurately explain what students did
Before You Leave
Ask yourself:
- Do I have the correct spelling of every name?
- Do I know each student’s grade level and role?
- Do I understand what the students were trying to accomplish?
- Do I know when and where it happened?
- Do I understand why this is a story?
- Did I talk to the students doing the work, rather than relying only on Mr. Diezi?
- Can I explain the project, repair, competition, or certification in plain language?
- Do I know what was particularly difficult or challenging?
- If something went wrong, did I find out what caused the problem and how students solved it?
- Do I know what skills, tools, or techniques were involved?
- Did I find out what students learned from the experience?
- Do I have a strong quote—not merely “It was fun” or “I’m excited”?
- Do I have usable photographs or video of the students and the work being done, not just the finished product?
- Did I identify everyone shown in my photographs?
- Have competition results, placements, certifications, or awards been officially confirmed?
- Did I double-check any technical terms or information I wasn’t sure about?
- Do I know what happens next?