Minnesota High School Students Compete for Scholarships and Prizes Awarded at the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition

BURNSVILLE, Minn.--AAA and Ford are giving high school students the keys to start their careers in the automotive repair industry as they team up to test students’ automotive knowledge and technical skills.

On Wednesday, April 25, 12 juniors and seniors from six high schools across Minnesota will meet in Brooklyn Park to challenge each other in the annual Ford/AA Auto Skills Competition. Each two-student team will strive to correctly diagnose and repair intentionally installed faults or “bugs” on identical vehicles. The winning team will need to repair every bug and then drive the vehicle across the finish line. In addition to receiving scholarships and other valuable prizes, the winners will represent the state in the National hands-on Finals at Ford Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan on June 26.

Every student qualified for the competition by completing online exams in February. This was the first year the qualifying exam was conducted online, which allowed more student to compete then in previous years. The new format also emulated professional technical certification and training programs such as the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) and automotive manufacturers, who are using Internet-based distance learning and assessment programs in lieu of off-site training and testing.

Minnesota’s championship team will compete against students from fifty states in a written exam and another hands-on competition at the national finals. “As the technology used in vehicles continues to evolve and increase in complexity, young people who want to excel as automotive technicians need opportunities to get the best training possible,” said Gail Weinholzer, director of public affairs, AAA Minnesota/Iowa. “The Ford/AAA Auto Skills competition provides students with the opportunities to obtain the technical training required to work on all kinds of vehicles, including those with the newest advances.”

Each year many of participants move on to promising careers in the automotive industry as a result of participation in the competition and the scholarships they win to some of the top technical schools in the country. This comes at a time of high demand for well-trained technicians. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the need for qualified technicians will grow by between nine and 17 percent through the year 2014, meaning current competitors will be well positioned to find employment upon completion of their training.

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 offers automotive, travel, insurance and financial services to 50 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA Minnesota/Iowa is part of The Auto Club Group, with 4.1 million members in eight Midwest states.

Note to editors: The state competition will be held at Hennepin Technical College, 9000 Brooklyn Boulevard in Brooklyn Park from 8:30 am until 12:45 pm. For details on covering the event, contact Gail Weinholzer, director of public affairs, AAA Minnesota/Iowa.

Contest information for each state – including dates, locations and local contacts – is available at www.aaa.com/news.