Palo Verde students win scholarships in Ford competition

It's one thing to study automotive technology in the relaxed atmosphere of a classroom, but try testing your diagnostic skills against 10,000 students in a nationwide competition and see how you do.

Timothy Allen, 18, and Josh Thomas, 17, both students at Palo Verde High School recently did just that when they competed as finalists in the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition on the lawn of the Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. Their mission was to diagnose nine "bugs," things that Ford engineers made go wrong in a new Ford F-150 truck, all within 1½ hours. They only missed one bug, earning 11th place and a $2,000 scholarship each to be used toward technical training in an automotive school of their choice.

The road to the national competition wasn't without a few potholes. Ford, which has been sponsoring this competition for 62 years, initially invited 1,000 students from each state to compete in state competitions. Students were given a written test in February covering engine performance, electrical, brakes, steering and suspension and heating and air conditioning. Two students from each high school with the highest scores were then invited in March to participate in the second phase of their state competition, which consisted of diagnosing problems on a late model vehicle. Kim Een, the students' teacher at Palo Verde, was able to convince Team Ford to supply a 2011 V-6 Mustang. Een planted 14 bugs in the car covering disconnected switches, fuses, spark-plug wire problems, etc.

"I freaked out when I saw the car," Allen remembered thinking. He had never worked on a brand new vehicle, let alone what he considered the "awesome looking" Mustang.

The students were given 1½ hours to diagnose the Mustang's issues. Ten teams, of two students each, competed in Nevada with vehicles they secured on their own and initially Allen and Thomas came in second place. But because the national competition fell on the graduation day of the first-place team, Palo Verde High School was invited to go to nationals. Of course they accepted. They also each earned a $20,000 scholarship for being selected the Nevada representatives.

When Een got the phone call and invitation from Ford, he said Allen and Thomas were ecstatic. They were among 100 students Ford was flying in and putting up at hotels in Dearborn to test their skills on diagnosing problems with F-150s, staged on the corporate headquarter's front lawn.

"It was a great experience," Allen said of the June 12 competition in Michigan. "It was not only seeing who's the best, but it teaches you about the future of the industry."

"It's a great eye opener," Een explained. To me, as a teacher, we are grateful to Ford and AAA. This lets the kids know that if they put forward the effort, they will succeed."

Leah Mertens, Thomas' mother, beams with pride when she talks about her son and agrees with Een.

"I love the fact that Josh found something he can have a career in," she said. "There is a need for skilled workers and knowing that he will find a good job."

All the testing was based on Automotive Service Excellence standards, the gold standard of the automotive industry. Students who aspire and have ASE certificates in various areas of automotive technology are what today's dealerships and private automotive businesses look for when hiring.

Ron Brecheisen, technical manager at Team Ford, said he hired a student who went through the student auto skills program.

"We have to build technicians somewhere," Brecheisen said. "And you have to have real-world experience. This competition does that."

Thomas said he plans on attending the Universal Technical Institute in 2012 after he graduates high school. Allen said he hasn't yet decided what trade school he will attend.

Nearly $12 million in scholarships for 2011 were made available to students through state and national competitions, according the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills program. For more information on the recent competition, visit autoskills.com