Upon retirement from General Motors’ after 35 years with the major automaker, Jim Contes was asked in 2008 to teach automotive engineering classes part-time at The Polytechnic School, one of the Fulton Schools. Soon he was offered a full-time job. Now, more than a decade later, he is a senior lecturer who has seen at least 150 of his students go on to jobs in the auto industry. Today he says his focus as a teacher is preparing students for an automotive world that has changed dramatically from the past and will continue to change from the present.