Twenty high school students from across Washington will compete in the state finals Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition for thousands of dollars worth of scholarships and a chance to advance to the National Finals.
The state competition will be held at Renton Technical College, 3000 N.E. Fourth Ave., Automotive Quad (building K), 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7. Awards ceremony will follow.
The Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition is targeted to support students looking to jumpstart a career as an automotive service technician. The winning two-student team will advance to represent Washington state at the national finals at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., June 9-12. Qualifiers will compete for scholarships, prizes, tools and an experience that could help shape the future of their careers.
Each two-student team in the state finals competition will race each other and the clock to correctly identify and repair “bugs” installed in 2013 Ford Focus SE vehicles.
Top-ranked schools that qualified to compete in this year’s state finals include:
• Bellevue High School: Fred Treadwell, Instructor
• Clark County Skills Center: Dale Vandeberg, Instructor
• Kentlake High School: David Lewis, Instructor
• Kentridge High School: George Sichting, Instructor
• Marysville Pilchuck High School: Chuck Nichols, Instructor
• New Market Skills Center: Mark Emmons, Instructor
• North Thurston High School: Brian Stretch, Instructor
• Spokane Skills Center: Dennis Koentopp, Instructor
• Tri-Tech Skills Center: Larry Brookes, Instructor
• Tri-Tech Skills Center: Lindahl Grant, Instructor
Qualifying teams were selected based on their scores in the online exam which tests overall automotive knowledge. The team with the highest combined score from the hands-on competition and written exam will win.
