Illinois High School Students to Compete in 2003 Ford/AAA Auto Skills Competition

  AURORA, Ill., May 7, 2003 -- Ten teams of two students from Illinois high
  schools will compete in the 2003 Ford/AAA Auto Skills hands-on Competition
  on Friday, May 9.  The students are competing for thousands of dollars in
  scholarship money.

  Students will race against the clock as they try and repair deliberately
  disabled 2003 Ford vehicles.  The winners will have corrected the most
  problems in the least amount of time and will go on to compete in the
  national competition in Washington, D.C.

  In order to compete in the hands-on competition, these students received
  top scores on a written exam that was taken by hundreds of students in the
  state of Illinois.

  The Ford/AAA Auto Skills competition is designed to promote careers in
  auto mechanics.

  WHEN:  Friday, May 9, 2003.  The contest starts at 9:00 a.m.

  WHO:   This year's teams include:

         Technical Center of Dupage - Nicholas O'Donnel, Glen Ellyn, Ill. &
          Daniel Minich, Glen Ellyn, Ill.
         Addison Trail High School - Ryan Lott, Addison, Ill. & Nikolaos
          Porfyris, Addison, Ill.
         Grundy Area Vocational Center - Eric Franciskovich, Coal City, Ill.
          & Chris Prince, Coal City, Ill.
         Mount Vernon High School - Joseph Howard, Texico, Ill. & Erik
          Dickey, Wayne City, Ill.
         Lincoln Way High School - David Wordelman, Mokena, Ill. & Joe
          Wheeler, New Lenox, Ill.
         Palatine High School - Adam Austin, Palatine, Ill. & Joseph Cooper,
          Palatine, Ill.
         Palatine High School - Mark Klinau, Palatine, Ill. & Brandon Roel,
          Palatine, Ill.
         Livingston Area Vocational Center - Ben Brown, Blackstone, Ill. &
          Brian Johnson, Pontiac, Ill.
         Quincy Area Vo Tech Center - Henry Voss, Quincy, Ill. & Ryan Bauer,
          Quincy, Ill.
         Willowbrook High School - Dennis Andre, Villa Park, Ill. & Ed
          Driskell, Villa Park, Ill.

  WHERE: AAA Chicago Corporate Headquarters
         975 Meridian Lake Drive
         Aurora, Ill. 60504

  For more information, call
  Steve Nolan - (630) 328-7235
  Cell Phone - (630) 222-4421

PRNewswire -- May 7