 Bemidji High School is giving girls a lesson in car maintenance in their first-ever all-women's auto class. Lakeland News reporter Cheryl Moore tells us about the skills that girls learn for this week's Golden Apple. Well, it's a good chance to get to know your vehicle or basic maintenance. Almost everyone drives, so knowing a thing or two about what's under the hood can come in handy. You don't usually see a lot of women in the auto shop, so Bemidji High School is handing the power tools to girls. Through the guidance counselors and myself, we came up with the idea to come up with an all-women's class and try that and see if that was appealing to a lot of the young ladies in our high school that hadn't thought of taking a class like this. The class teaches the importance of general car maintenance, as well as other lessons behind the wheel. Driving habits, we talk about that. We talk about the responsibility of being a driver. We talk about distracted driving. We've talked, I think, a little bit about tire pressure. We watched a video on all the different fluids and stuff in the car. Learning about the battery, too. Like, when to replace it. And, like, when to get your oil change and stuff like that. The class last nine weeks and is open to all girls, no matter the grade. So if you're stranded, you can fix your car, or if you don't want to spend the money and you're broke, you can fix your own car. When it comes to car maintenance, it never hurts to know the basics. In fact, knowing the basics can help save you some money. And another thing that girls tell me that they love about this class is that it's a little easier to learn without having all the guys around. Without having any boys in there, and you don't really feel as intimidated with all girls. Some girls aren't comfortable sitting in a class with a whole bunch of guys, and it's totally, like, relatable. I was like that, too. When this class came, I said I wanted to be in auto so I could learn more. This is the first year the class has been offered a BHS, and it's already proven to be a smash. When we first came up with the idea and started getting it all established, we were hoping to have one section a year and to consider it a success. Well, this first year we got three sections, so I was just thrilled that we had that much interest, and there was that much desire to learn about their vehicles and bring students down into our department that maybe wouldn't have normally taken a class down here.