The fifth annual Thunder Show motored into Twin Lakes Secondary School (TLSS) on Saturday.
The classic and muscle car show is organized and planned by students under the guidance of transportation technology teacher Ryan Smyth.
"The premise is to get kids event planning with an entrepreneurial approach," he said. "It's gone from being a single classroom thing to a school-wide event."
There were six different classes of students offering their expertise in money management, data management, and marketing to the event on Saturday.
Since planning began in February, Smyth says more than 70 students have been involved with the event. Perry Automotive, Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts, and Barrie Detailing are some of the local businesses that sponsored the event through silent auction items and cash donations.
There were approximately 80 unique vehicles at TLSS today whose owners made the trip from Wasaga Beach, Innisfil, Toronto, and Barrie to show off their pride and joy.
"It's a good turnout," Smyth said. "I want to pass on the nostalgia and the passion for the automotive industry on to the youth."
Smyth hopes students come away from the event with the skills to manage future events, operate a business, or understand personal finances.
"Money management is kind of at the core of it," he said. "They also learn the stresses that come with real life and dealing with people in real-time that I think sometimes kids are a little bit sheltered from."
Sam Lazary, a Grade 11 double credit auto student, has been involved with planning the event for the past two years.
"I love raising money for charity and I love cars," he said. "It's great to mix my passion for those things."
TLSS is on pace to raise around $5,000 this year. The money will be donated to the family of Justin Pickersgill, a Barrie father who recently died by suicide.
"We are trying to raise money to help his family financially recover," Lazary said. "This is a local family and Justin was a big car guy. We thought that made it a good fit."
Lazary says he's learned a lot of new skills by helping to organize the car show.
"Doing this has helped me work on my money and time management skills," he said. "I think it's helped me focus a lot on my other classes so I could stay on task."
Lazary says he's made new friendships through planning the event.
"We've all learned a lot about responsibility," he said. "I hope more students get involved in future years."
Jenna Imbeau, a Grade 11 student, spent Saturday morning registering all the cars that attended the event. She's been involved in the planning process since it began in February.
"I've gotten to meet lots of people through going out on Fridays to hand out flyers," she said. "I've learned how to plan an event and how much work goes into it."
Imbeau was also involved in approaching companies for corporate sponsorships.
"I'm going to be going away for college and I'm going to be needing a sponsor," she said. "So, this helps me plan and know how to talk professionally."
Imbeau says there was a "happy" atmosphere at TLSS on Saturday.
"Spending so much time planning together has built a lot of friendships," she said. "We've spent a lot of late nights at school preparing for this day."
Wasaga Beach Cruisers, a local classic car club, brought six unique vehicles to TLSS on Saturday morning.
Brian Currie, the club president, says it's important to him to support the TLSS students who organized the event.
"Without the younger people getting interested in this, our hobby is going to die," he said. "You never want to see your hobby die; you always want to pass it on."
