JAMES CITY COUNTY — Ben Hipple, a 16-year-old dually enrolled at Warhill High School in James City County and New Horizons Butler Farms campus in Hampton, created a cool new decor piece that can now be seen at Shorty’s Diner.
Through the the New Horizons Career and Technical Education program, Hipple is enrolled in the Automotive Body Technology course, which allows students to learn techniques for sanding, priming and painting a vehicle. They may then choose a design and apply it to the prepped car hood.
In addition to all his schooling, Hipple works at Collision Correction, a local body shop. One afternoon a vehicle with an eye-catching logo came in to have some work. As soon as Hipple saw the design, he knew it was the one to use for his school project.
“We has a guy come in and hand paint the Shorty’s Diner logo on the side of a minivan,” explains Hipple. “It was very inspiring to see his artwork and skill and I thought to myself, ‘I can do that!'”
After receiving permission from his teacher, Scott Harrell, Hipple began work on the detailed and iconic Shorty’s Diner logo.
Usually, the painted project car hoods are put away once the students complete the project for reuse the following year.
However, once Shorty’s Diner owners Gil and Bonnie Short saw photos of the project, they asked to buy the hood so that it could be displayed on their building, as well as making a $500 donation to the school program.
“It was a surprise and neat that Ben was thinking about us and made this beautiful hood,” said Gil Short, “I appreciate all the work Ben did. I can’t believe he did it. Unbelievable!”
The car hood display was unveiled on Wednesday, April 17 with a celebratory class field trip for breakfast and a check presentation.
“It fits right in to the theme of Shorty’s Diner,” said Short, “I am honored he (Hipple) was thinking of us.”
About the project, Hipple stated, “I learned that you can do anything that you put your mind to, even if some people say that it’s not going to work. You should never ignore your dreams, because you’ll realize that you lost the moon while counting stars. Change the plans, not the goal!”
