“It started out with 545 students from across the state taking a written test,” explained Ray Keeton, president of AAA Miami Valley. “Then the top 10 teams advance to the hands-on, one-and-a-half-hour test to get the car to run. And it’s not a case of getting it done first,” Keeton added.
“After the car is running and all the repairs have been made, the cars are judged by the final judges, for craftsmanship, accuracy of repair, cleanliness and all that,” Keeton said.
Mike Berardi, director of service operations for Ford Motor Co., was on hand and explained the goal of the national program.
“We need to train the auto technicians of the future, as part of our business plan at Ford. We want these young people to learn and understand how important quality and customer satisfaction is, so we judge them as if they were working in one of our dealerships.”
Ford also makes a huge financial commitment to the program in scholarships to the Ford Asset Program (Automotive Student Service Educational Training), at community colleges across the country. Each state winner advances to the national finals held at the Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Mich.
“There’s a lot at stake for these kids, including a fully-funded associate degree in automotive technology,” Berardi said.
Ryan Zunk and Robert Bergfeld of Penta Career Center finished fifth, and each student garnered a $4,000 scholarship. “I was pretty nervous at first,” Zunk said. “But we had put together a game plan so we wouldn’t get in each other’s way and we calmed down and went after it. I’m pretty happy the way it turned out.”
Zunk will attend the University of Northern Ohio in Lima this fall.
“I’m really all about engines, and I’m hoping that I can end up as an engine builder in a shop for a NASCAR team,” Zunk said. This summer he will be working as an intern at a Ford dealership near his hometown.
The team of Craig Lefold and Dillan Schulze nailed the top prize and combined scholarships valued at more than $40,000. The pair from Tri Star Career Compact in Celina completed their work in one hour and 15 minutes.
“My nerves really got to me at first, and I made couple of mistakes,” Lefold said. “But I stopped, and remembered what my instructor, Mr. Dorsten, said. He said he didn’t care how long it took, but it had to be a perfect car, and we settled down and got it right.”
Lefold and Schulze captured both top trophies, as they also had the highest score on the written test of the 545 students who took it.
“I’m going to Sinclair Community College this fall,” Lefold said, “to study automotive technology, but I might also get a double major in aviation maintenance, because that sounds pretty cool, too.”
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