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

Two Students from Tech Center of DuPage Earn Right to Represent Illinois In National Competition

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

Students raced against the clock as they tried to repair deliberately disabled 2003 Ford vehicles. The winners corrected the most problems in the least amount of time and will go on to compete in the national competition in Washington, D.C. on June 24.

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.

  This year's teams include (Listed in the order that they finished):
  -- Technical Center of DuPage -- Nicholas O'Donnell, Glen Ellyn, Ill. &
     Daniel Minich, Glen Ellyn, Ill.; Instructor, Jeff Vogt
  -- Willowbrook High School -- Dennis Andre, Villa Park, Ill. & Ed
     Driskell, Villa Park, Ill.; Instructor, Brian Elliott
  -- Mount Vernon High School -- Joseph Howard, Texico, Ill. & Erik Dickey,
     Wayne City, Ill.; Instructor, Ken Feather
  -- Lincoln Way High School -- David Wordelman, Mokena, Ill. & Joe Wheeler,
     New Lenox, Ill.; Instructor, Brian McCleish
  -- Livingston Area Vocational Center -- Ben Brown, Blackstone, Ill. &
     Brian Johnson, Pontiac, Ill.; Instructor, Chuck Prong
  -- Quincy Area Vo Tech Center -- Henry Voss, Quincy, Ill. & Ryan Bauer,
     Quincy, Ill.; Instructor, Daniel Buckley
  -- Palatine High School -- Adam Austin, Palatine, Ill. & Joseph Cooper,
     Palatine, Ill.; Instructor, Roger Basrak
  -- Palatine High School -- Mark Klinau, Palatine, Ill. & Brandon Roel,
     Palatine, Ill.; Instructor, Tony Cicha
  -- Addison Trail High School -- Ryan Lott, Addison, Ill. & Nikolaos
     Porfyris, Addison, Ill.; Instructor, Keith Santini
  -- Grundy Area Vocational Center -- Eric Franciskovich, Coal City, Ill. &
     Chris Prince, Coal City, Ill.; Instructor, Jim Coleman

  Competition Facts and Figures
  -- The top teams from the written exam advance to the state finals, where
     they race to correctly diagnose and repair a deliberately "bugged" Ford
     vehicle. A combination of the written and hands-on scores determines
     the state champions.
  -- The top five teams in the overall competition are offered scholarships
     of varying amounts to technical colleges across the country.  The
     largest scholarship is a $19,500 scholarship to the Universal Technical
     Institute.
  -- The contest has been held annually since 1949, sponsored by various
     organizations dedicated to quality auto service. This is the tenth year
     Ford has been co-sponsor of the FORD/AAA STUDENT AUTO SKILLS
     competition.
  -- As the governments, industry and motoring associations in other
     countries look to address similar shortages of qualified auto
     technicians in their nations, many are turning to the Ford/AAA Student
     Auto Skills Competition as a proven answer. Competitions modeled
     directly from the Ford/AAA competition were held in Canada, the United
     Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Australia, and Argentina last year with their
     winners traveling to D.C. to compete alongside the U.S. finalists.

  Labor Facts and Figures
  -- In 1999, there were 587,320 automotive technicians employed nationwide.
     (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  -- Starting salaries for certified, entry-level technicians are
     approximately $30 - $35,000 per year.  Many master mechanics can earn
     between $70,000 and $100,000 annually in some areas.
  -- In 2001, there were more than 400,000 automotive technicians currently
     certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence
     (ASE). (Source: ASE)
  -- More than 1200 high school and post-secondary automotive mechanic
     training programs have been certified by the National Automotive
     Technicians Association, an ASE affiliate. (Source: ASE)
  -- Currently there is an estimated shortage of 60,000 trained service and
     repair technicians. (Source: Automotive Repair Leadership 2000
     Conference)
  -- Since 1989, more than 15,000 of the most experienced technicians (age
     35+) have been retiring annually, at a rate of more than 4 percent each
     year. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

AAA Chicago offers automotive, travel, insurance and financial services. It is part of The Auto Club Group (ACG), the largest affiliation of AAA clubs in the Midwest, with 4.1 million members in eight states. ACG clubs belong to the national AAA federation, a not-for-profit organization, with more than 45 million members in the United States and Canada.