Riverton School Students Win Wyoming State Finals of Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills
Students Will Represent Wyoming in the National Finals in Michigan in June
Cheyenne, Wyo. 5/19/10 – Two Riverton High School students were crowned the top high school auto technicians in Wyoming after winning the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills state finals on May 11. Thomas Coldiron and Patrick Richardson, led by their instructor Tawn Gopp, will represent Wyoming in the National Finals against teams from all 50 states.
After taking an online exam earlier this year, the Riverton students were among 10 pairs whose high scores qualified them to advance to the state finals. At the May 11 state finals, held at Laramie Community College, the students represented their school as a pair in a race to correctly diagnosis and repair intentionally installed “bugs” on vehicles. Each pair was judged on their speed, accuracy and workmanship.
“Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills energizes young people about the great potential in the automotive technician profession and encourages them to get the best training possible,” said Joe Beatty, AAA Automotive Service Manager, adding, “The industry is constantly changing, and as vehicular technology becomes increasingly complex, we need bright young minds to step up to help keep drivers safe and our vehicles efficient. The Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition gives motivated students a chance to obtain the latest technical training and opportunities to pay for it.”
Thomas Coldiron, Patrick Richardson and their instructor will travel Dearborn, Mich., to compete in the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Finals, June 13-15. During the National Finals, pairs of students representing all 50 states will compete in a written test of their automotive knowledge, and a hands-on competition similar to the May 11 state finals held on the front lawn of Ford World Headquarters.
More than $10 million in scholarships are available at the state and national level from Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills. Many of the students competing in May 11 Wyoming finals received a share of the scholarships available. Other teams competing in the Wyoming finals included:
2nd – Campbell County High School
Students: Nathaniel Zollinger, John Norfolk Instructor: Teric Engebretsen
3rd – Worland High School
Students: Jordon Osbon, Tanner Haun Instructor: Mike Sapp
4th – Green River High School
Students: Isaac Owens, Michael Ruiz Instructor: Nate Penn
5th – Laramie High School
Students: Cody Deboer, Austin Wright Instructor: Edward Elliot
6th – Kelly Walsh High School
Students: Mauro Perez, Troy Toups Instructor: Ryan Owens
7th – Campbell County High School
Students: Kipp Temple, Caleb Mehrer Instructor: Earl Smith
8th – Rock Spring High School
Students: Sean Agostini, Nicole Salois Instructor: George Czapski
9th – Torrington High School
Students: Tyler Cearns, Marvin Jones Instructor: Dean Sims
10th – Kelly Walsh High School
Students: Matt Ciampi, Kolton Tobin Instructor: Park Pickering
Both the national and the state-wide competitions are organized with the support of Ford personnel, local automotive instructors and AAA’s Approved Auto Repair program, a public service AAA performs to identify quality repair facilities throughout the country.
AAA MountainWest is dedicated to providing its over 170,000 members in Alaska, Montana and Wyoming with travel, insurance, financial and auto-related services. A fully tax-paying, not-for-profit corporation, AAA MountainWest, Inc. works for the improvement of motoring and traveling conditions and is a leader for travel, civic and safety issues. In 2008, AAA was voted the #1 socially responsible business brand in America by Landor’s BrandAsset® Valuator. AAA can be visited on the Internet at AAA.com. To have up-to-date news and safety information from AAA delivered right to your desktop, sign-up for the new RSS Feed at http://mtw.aaashare.com/index.php#rss.
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