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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Through SVHS Casey Lundquist found his path


Casey Lundquist poses in the backyard of his Spokane area home.
 (Joe Barrentine / The Spokesman-Review)
Steve Christilaw Correspondent

If it weren’t for Spokane Valley High School, Casey Lundquist figures, he wouldn’t be where he is today.

The newly graduated Lundquist is busy looking for a summer job and happily looking forward to fall, when he will enroll at Spokane Community College to study auto body repair.

Two years ago Lundquist was on a different path – one he now sees was heading rapidly toward a dead end.

“I was hanging out with the wrong people and I got myself kicked out of Ferris High School,” he said. “One of my friends told me about Spokane Valley. When I first came out here, I couldn’t drive and found myself kind of stuck out in the Valley.

“That really got me turned around. The teachers were really nice and everyone was helpful. It helped me get focused on my school work. I turned my life around.”

Because of the school’s small class size, Lundquist got all the attention he needed from teachers.

“Ferris is so much bigger,” he said. “The teachers there would make sure you didn’t get into trouble, but they wouldn’t necessarily help you if you were failing the class.

“At my school, the teachers are very hands-on. They make sure you know what you’re doing before you go do it.”

“The teachers have just been wonderful,” said Casey’s mother, Garri Lundquist. “They took an interest in him and worked with him. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to them.”

Casey Lundquist is frank about where he would have ended up if he had gone somewhere else.

“I probably would have transferred to Lewis and Clark and dropped out from there, too,” he said.

At the same time he transferred to Spokane Valley, Lundquist learned of the Skills Center at SCC and enrolled in the auto collision program, spending half his days in the shop learning to do body work.

“Eventually I got to the point where I could bring my own car in, and that’s when I brought my mom’s car in and fixed it up,” he said.

It’s the artistic quality of body work that appeals to him, he said.

“I’m not that good with an engine and this is the closest thing I could do to a car,” he said with a laugh. “I just like being in the shop. Eventually I’d like to open my own shop.”

Lundquist already has his next project lined up.

“Right now I have a ‘64 Chevy Stepside that I’m working on,” he said. “I’m doing the body work on it. Eventually I’d like to refabricate it.”

He’s already refabricated himself.