High school students compete for auto repair crown, win NASCAR date and secure future

High school students compete for auto repair crown

DEARBORN, Mich. — For Matthew Ludwig and Justin Dwyer, their future in the auto industry is a bright one, unmarred by a slumping auto sales market and Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings.

The high school juniors from Faribault, Minn., won the annual Ford/AAA student auto skills competition Tuesday, by repairing a series of mechanical problems in a Ford Escape in just 42 minutes.

The competition brings 50, two-person teams of student automotive technicians to the Detroit suburb to race against the clock and their skills for scholarship money and an opportunity to participate in a pit crew during a NASCAR race.

But for sponsors Ford Motor Co. and AAA, the event is an investment in future employees, whether the students end up repairing vehicles at a dealership, or seek careers elsewhere in the auto industry.

“People are looking at an average age of nine years for their cars. That’s going to provide work,” said Steve DeAngelis, technical support operations manager for Ford. “And I told them that these technical skills can lead them to other careers.”

DeAngelis and several of the instructors said the current generation of tech-savvy teenagers and young adults are well-matched to work on vehicles which are loaded with mini computers.

“There’s a shortage of qualified technicians,” said John Nielsen, director of AAA’s approved auto repair network. “As technology continues to grow, this competition highlights those skills.”

About 950 high schools across the U.S. offer an automotive technology program, where students get hands-on instruction on vehicle maintenance and repair, according to DeAngelis. Some students at the competition already have part-time jobs at repair shops. Ford has been sponsor for 15 years, placing many of the top students in jobs at Ford, Lincoln, Mercury dealerships.

Eric Reed, half of the California team — which finished in fifth place — said he planned on becoming an architect before taking an auto shop class at his San Luis Obispo, Calif high school. Now the recent graduate plans to attend Northern Arizona University to study mechanical engineering.

“I don’t see myself working in a shop,” said Reed, 18, adding that he wants to contribute to designing and building the next generation of hybrid or electric cars.

To get to the national competition, held at AAA’s regional headquarters — across the street from Ford’s headquarters — 9,750 students take a test to first qualify to compete at the state level. Winners come to Michigan to vie for the national title.

With the title comes exposure for the high school’s auto program, say instructors who spent dozens of extra hours working to prepare the students. While many said that their principals have been supportive in terms of funding, others said that budget cuts have put a strain on vocational opportunities.

“It’s been a challenge. They’re not all that supportive of career and technical education,” said Daniel Pontes, the auto instructor at Newport Area Career & Technical Center, a Newport, R.I. school in which students from surrounding high schools can take electives.

“It’s due to a lack of money,” he said.

Yet the number of people going into technical fields is growing along with the demand for such jobs, according to the Association for Career and Technical Education. One-third of the fastest-growing jobs over the next 10 years will require some form of technical education, said ACTE spokeswoman Sabrina Kidwai. She said such courses are being designed by two-year colleges and trade school to meet the needs of a changing regional work force.

“Around the country education budgets are being cut,” Kadwai said. “But we’re trying to encourage that career and technical education shouldn’t be cut because of its impact on the economy.”

The group is even trying to move the nation away from the word “vocational” because of its negative connotation, using “career and technical education” instead.

“A lot of people think of vocational students as those not going to college, and not for the smart kid,” she said. “But we have very intelligent students going through these program, they have the skills employers are looking for.”

Brad Wheaton, the auto instructor at Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, Colo. said that many people underestimate what it takes to repair a vehicle. His team came in second.

“A lot of people think the not so smart kids go to shop, work on cars, or go into an apprentice program,” he said. “It’s the complete opposite. We need the smart kids and the thinkers.”