On Friday, May 9, from 9:30-11 a.m., twenty juniors and seniors representing ten high schools across Connecticut will meet at Maneeley's Banquet and Catering, 65 Rye St., South Windsor, to face off in the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition. They'll race against the clock to identify and repair intentionally-installed "bugs" in 2014 Ford Fiestas.
After properly diagnosing and repairing the vehicle, teammates must drive their Ford across the finish line, where their accuracy and workmanship will be judged. In addition to receiving scholarships and prizes, the winning team will represent Connecticut at the National Finals June 8–10 at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. There, they'll compete against students from 49 other states for the national title.
CT's top 20 automotive technology students competing in this year's state finals are:
· Jose Luna & Malani Burey, both of Emmett O'Brien Technical High School, Ansonia
· Orion Dajnowicz & Andrew Lagrave, both of Oliver Wolcott Tech. High School, Torrington
· Alec Bergemann & Santiago Serna, both of Platt Technical High School, Milford
· Alexander Arabasz & Rizvan Mujic, both of A.I. Price Technical High School, Hartford
· Carl Gould & Xavier Guzman, both of E.C. Goodwin Technical High School, New Britain
· Damian Brower & Douglas Taylor, both of Grasso Southeastern Technical High School, Groton
· Jordan Howell & Sean Costello, both of Howell Cheney Technical High School, Manchester
· Thomas Thompson & Andrew Beaudion, both of Norwich Technical High School, Norwich
· Nathan Kirschner & Jacob Marquis, both of Windham Technical High School, Willimantic
Each two-student team earned a spot in the Connecticut finals by receiving one of the state's top scores in the preliminary online exam. The Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition will award millions of dollars in scholarships this year to students at both the state and national levels.
AAA provides travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services to 54 million members nationwide. AAA is committed to keeping its members on-the-go by providing outstanding roadside assistance, valuable online resources on buying and maintaining vehicles and through the Approved Auto Repair program, which has inspected and approved more than 8,000 auto repair facilities in North America. For more information about AAA, members and non-members can visit one of eight offices in Greater Hartford and eastern Connecticut, go online to AAA.com or call 860-236-3261.