Gentlemen, Fix Your Engines: Automotive Students Vie for
State Championship
--
WHAT: Racing against the clock and each other at Irwindale
Speedway, 10 teams of the Southland's finest high school auto
technology students will work on identical Ford Taurus
vehicles to diagnose and repair deliberately placed
malfunctions during the state finals of the 2005 AAA/Ford
Student Auto Skills Competition. The team with the highest
score will represent California in the national finals in
Washington, D.C., on June 27.
Four teams are from the Central Coast. Two teams are from San
Luis Obispo High including Taylor Mohr and Jordan Scott; and
Chris Burd and Lucas Grant.
WHY: Trained automotive technicians are among the most
sought-after and highly paid professionals in today's job
market, but many high schools are scaling back or eliminating
their automotive programs due to lack of funding and/or
trained teachers. The annual demand for qualified auto
technicians exceeds the supply by about 32,000 and the auto
repair industry is predicted to increase in size. The Auto
Club sponsors the skills contest as part of its educational
efforts to attract and train more young people for automotive
professions.
WHEN: 10 a.m. Friday, May 6. Awards presentation will follow at 1
p.m.
WHERE: Irwindale Speedway, 13300 E. Live Oak Ave. Doug Stokes, PR,
626-358-1100.
WHO: Twenty of the Southland's top high school automotive
technicians (two students per team) representing the
following:
School City
Agoura High School Agoura Hills
Arroyo Grande High School Arroyo Grande
Arvin High School Arvin (near Riverside)
Morro Bay Morrow Bay
Paso Robles Paso Robles
Ramona (2 Teams) Ramona
San Luis Obispo High School (2 Teams) San Luis Obispo
Sultana Hesperia
