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| Rolla students win Missouri auto repair competition | ||||||
| High school technology students from across Missouri recently competed in an automotive race where simply starting the car was the goal. The students were competing in the annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Quality Care Challenge. Held this spring in each state, the hands-on contest featured two-person teams competing against each other to repair “bugged” 2003 Mercury Mountaineers. In addition to not being able to start, the vehicles had problems with their ignition, lighting and air conditioning systems. To win, the teams not only had to repair their vehicles quickly but find all of the faults. Scores were based on their time and accuracy. The top team in Missouri, Jesse Nelson and Jeff Phelps of Rolla Technical Institute, were the fastest among nine other teams at the contest, which was held at AAA in St. Louis. Their instructor is Jerry Sanders. The contest–sponsored by AAA, Ford and the department of education in each state–has been held annually since 1949 as a way to encourage more students to pursue careers in automotive services. At a time when employment opportunities are limited in some professions, the U.S. Department of Labor reports that the automotive service sector is one of the few employers that has continued to increase the size of its workforce in the last few years. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 30,000 new auto technicians will be needed in the workforce each year for the next 10 years. To qualify for the state contests, which were held in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the students had to take written exams. And each winner of the state contests received a choice of scholarships from a number of technical institutes. In addition, the state winners received an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their states in the national championship, where they were to compete against other top teams from across the country. The championship was held in June after press deadline for this issue. |
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