AYES Hosts the Industry's Largest Gathering of Automotive Instructors in the Nation

2008 SPX /AYES Instructor of the Year Announced

TROY, Mich., Aug. 21, 2008 -- The 13th annual AYES Training Conference, the largest of its kind in the nation, was held on July 21 - 25 in Dearborn, MI. Over 500 attendees, including AYES program instructors and administrators from AYES affiliated schools, attended training seminars throughout the week. This was AYES' second largest conference since its inception in 1995.

Jim Press, vice chairman and president of Chrysler LLC and current chairman of AYES, keynoted the conference. Mr. Press delivered key messages relating the impact of his high school experience in automotive service technology. He urged the attendees to remain positive about the future of education and the automotive industry, citing the importance of the vision of AYES and its model and process.

AYES manufacturing stakeholders and industry partners provided technical training in the four core areas of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) instruction. Additional industry update training was provided by AYES partners throughout the conference. Instructors were able to earn up to 16 hours of technical training credit toward their 20 hour National Automotive Technical Education Foundation (NATEF) and 40 hour AYES annual training requirements. Attendees also earned professional development credit through key sessions on the AYES model and classroom improvement strategies.

Additionally, AYES administrators participated in two days of training on the AYES model and reporting systems, as well as sessions on Perkins funding, trends in career and technical education and employment practices in our industry.

2008 SPX /AYES Instructor of the Year Award

The 2008 AYES Instructor of the Year, sponsored by SPX Service Solutions, was also announced during this years' training conference. Michael O'Hara, the 8th recipient of this award, is an instructor from H.B. Ward Technical Center in Riverhead, New York.

In recognition of his commitment and dedication, he was given the choice of four vacation options, each valued at over $6,000.00.

O'Hara has been an instructor with the school since it became affiliated with AYES in 1998. During his tenure, he has placed 64 students into mentored internships. This averages out to six internships per year. Mike has been able to maintain this average with only 15 new car franchises in his area of responsibility, which equates to approximately 40% annual engagement.

"We are truly thankful to our partner SPX Service Solutions for sponsoring this award in honor of an AYES instructor that goes above and beyond," said Susan Moe, executive director of AYES. "Our instructors are our delivery mechanism and the basis for a strong AYES initiative in our schools throughout the nation."

About Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES)

AYES is a partnership among participating automotive manufacturers, the National Automobile Dealers Association, Automotive Trade Association Executives, State Departments of Education and Labor, local dealerships and select high schools across the country. AYES' goal is to encourage quality students with a good mechanical aptitude to pursue careers in the fields of automotive technology and prepare them for entry-level positions in dealerships.