Students From Saline High School Are Michigan's Best Young Auto Technicians

DEARBORN, Mich., April 27 -- Justin Jedele and Ryan Szpara of Saline, seniors at Saline High School, took first place in the Michigan state final of the 11th annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition, held today at the Macomb Community College Expo Center in Warren. The victory, in competition against eight other teams from Michigan high schools, means more then $20,000 in scholarship prizes and automotive merchandise for Jedele and Szpara, both 18, and they will go to Washington D.C., in June to represent Michigan in the national Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition.

The Saline team, coached by instructor Tim Timoszyk and sponsored by Briarwood Ford, took just over 64 minutes to diagnose and fix the nine electrical and mechanical "bugs" deliberately placed in a 2005 Taurus by Ford engineers.

Runners-up in the competition were the team of Logan Thorn Finton, 16, and Kyle Wells, 17, juniors at Delton Kellogg High School in Delton. They completed the challenge in just over 80 minutes, but received one demerit for failure to diagnose a loose cable.

Jason Joubran and James Desrochers, 17-year-old seniors at Kearsley High School in Flint, actually had the fastest completion time in the competition, just over 41 minutes, but they received three demerits for failure to find a malfunctioning light in the luggage compartment.

The teams competing today earned their places in the state finals by outscoring teams from 31 other Michigan high schools on a 50-question written exam in February covering all aspects of automotive service.

The team of George Rivard, 19, and Mark Sweeney, 18, seniors at New Haven High School in New Haven, had the highest score in the written exam.

Ford Motor Co. and AAA sponsor the annual Student Auto Skills Competition as part of their ongoing effort to encourage talented youngsters to pursue careers as automotive technicians. Each year, the competition draws more than 6,000 high school students in the 50 states, and more than $5 million in scholarships and other prizes are awarded.

"While national TV shows are focusing on finding America's top model or top singing star, Ford and AAA are focusing on a goal that can be more important to the average American citizen: Focusing attention on the nation's best young auto technicians," said Robert Kaczor, assistant vice president- Automotive Services for AAA Michigan.

"Today's automotive students will be the technicians Americans will depend on in the years ahead to keep our vehicles running. The need for their skills is critical. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the nation is currently approximately 32,000 short of the number of skilled auto technicians we need, and that need is expected to grow as much as another 20 percent by the year 2012," Kaczor said.

"Ford Motor Co. and AAA are pleased to be able to work together to sponsor this Student Auto Skills Competition to inspire young people to help answer this critical need by considering an automotive career," Kaczor said.

While the high school teams were competing in the student event, five experienced, professional technicians from Ford dealerships were competing in the Ultimate Master Technician Challenge in another part of the Expo Center.

Cyrus Repp Jr. of Kunkle, Ohio, a technician at Bryan Ford Lincoln Mercury in Bryan, Ohio, won the $3,000 first prize.

Daniel McMahan of Napoleon, Ohio, a technician with Steve Rogers Ford in Waterville, Ohio, was runner-up, earning a $2,000 cash prize.

Third place and $1,500 went to Dirk Krueger of Archbold, Ohio, a technician with Rich Ford Lincoln-Mercury in Archbold.