Reedley High School ROP students show off custom truck

REEDLEY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Through a lot of dedication and a strong vision, Reedley High students took a truck older than them and transformed it into an icon of school spirit.

It's an unveiling and project never seen before at the school.

"Fully finished, I mean, it's amazing. From start to finish, it's just the best experience I've had," said Jesus Vasquez III, Reedley High Automotive Student.

It all began with a visit from the Kings Canyon Unified School District Superintendent.

Back in March, Superintendent John Campbell walked into the Automotive Class run by Gustavo Mendoza. He saw 15 students working on a truck and asked the instructor if they'd like one donated.

He gifted the class an old service truck from the district -- a 2002 GMC Sierra.

Students looked at the old beat-up white truck in front of them and saw incredible potential.

Junior Jesus Vasquez tackled the suspension, a task not entirely new to him, but a challenge nonetheless.

"My dad and I always like working on older trucks," said Vasquez. "I mean, I have an older truck. I have a '97 GMC Sierra, so we lowered it. Just having a good time with him, you know? He kind of showed me what being a whole car guy is."

Alyzae Lopez worked on the interior.

"I had to strip the wires to get this whole liner out, we took out the grey liners, put the whole black liner on, ironed some flags up here, did some red eyes with some gems, and put everything back on," said Lopez.

Mendoza wanted to give his students a chance to do work they don't normally get to in his class.

"We wanted to do it because other than automotive, there are other careers in automotive," said Mendoza. "The kids now got a taste of customizing the vehicle. After they graduate, they could maybe think about doing lowerings, lift kits, bodywork, a sound system, some of the students did upholstery on it."

When former automotive student Raymond Arteaga got wind of the project, he offered to do the custom paint job for free at his paint and body shop.

"I just wanted to give back to the school because I came through here in 1995, and it's fun giving back to them because I never thought I was going to do what I do," said Arteaga.

After many late nights of work, the students were finally able to show off their work to the rest of the student body at lunch Thursday afternoon.

That won't be the last they see of it. The plan is to bring the truck to football games and parades to excite school spirit.

For news updates, follow Kate Nemarich on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.