ALASKA'S  BEST AUTO  STUDENTS COMPETE 

FOR  FORD/AAA  AUTO  SKILLS  STATE TITLE 

Anchorage, AK 4/29/11 – Ten high school automotive students from across the state will tune up cars in hopes of tuning out the competition on April 29 and 30 in the State Finals of the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition. The students will be fighting for scholarships in the automotive industry and for the chance to advance to the National Finals, which take place at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Mich.

The competition, which is geared toward students looking to jumpstart their careers in the automotive industry, is especially relevant for today’s struggling economy, in which car owners are putting more money into car repair and maintenance as a way of avoiding the big-ticket purchase of a new car.

On April 29, ten juniors and seniors representing five high schools across Alaska will face off in the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills State Finals. Each two-student team will race the clock to correctly identify and fix intentionally installed “bugs” on identical 2012 Ford vehicles. After properly diagnosing and repairing their vehicle, the teammates must drive their assigned vehicle across the finish line, where the vehicle will be inspected for accuracy and workmanship. The competition will take place at University of Alaska, Anchorage from 8:00am Friday morning, finishing at 1:00pm on Saturday afternoon.

The top-ranked automotive technology students selected to compete in this year’s Alaska State Finals include:

McKenzie Wilson and Matt Rumery                 Juneau Douglas High School, Juneau

Calvin Gustafson and Kyle Evans                   North Pole High School, North Pole

Taylor J. Tomkins and Shawn Evans              James T. Hutchison High School, Fairbanks

Louis J. Bonita and Brendan S. Farr               Ketchikan High School, Ketchikan

Xavier U. Rericha and Vance S. Matilla           King Career Center,          

                                                                  Anchorage                                      

The teams were selected based on their high scores in an online qualifying exam that tested each team’s automotive knowledge. The winning team members not only receive scholarships and other valuable prizes, but also will represent Alaska at the National Finals at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. On June 12 – 14, the team with the highest combined scored from the national hands-on competition and written exam will be declared “America’s Next Top Auto Technicians.” Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills will offer nearly $12 million in scholarships this year to students at both the state and national level.

“In today’s economy, drivers are looking to extend the lives of their cars through maintenance and repair and have a strong need for skilled automotive technicians,” said Joe Beatty, AAA Manager of Automotive Services. “The Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition helps prepare future professionals for promising careers in the automotive repair industry.”

AAA MountainWest is dedicated to providing its over 178,000 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. AAA can be visited on the Internet at www.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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