Automotive Prepares To Compete at Weber State Competition

Automotive+Prepares+To+Compete+at+Weber+State+Competition

Kayla Overmeyer, Staff Reporter

 This year Aric Vail (12) earned the highest score on the written test for the Weber State Competition, putting Blackfoot High School in first overall for the test. He will be competing at the hands-on competition with the written test score runner up, Josh Sharp (12). Tyler Scott (12) is the alternate for the competition.

 “It feels amazing to finally be able to compete there. My whole high school career in autos has lead me to the competition and being good enough to go is an amazing compliment for me,” Vail said.

   “Automotive is super great. I’ve learned a lot about fixing cars and learning how things work,” Scott said.

The Blackfoot Automotive program has had lots of success in the competition in recent years as well as this year.

 In 2017 Blackfoot High School Automotive took second in the written test.They took the written test for this year last month and took first place out of the 60 schools between here and Texas. They will now compete at the hands-on competition on February 15.

  In 2016 and 2017 the automotive program was ranked among the top twenty automotive programs in the country. It was the only high school in the western United States that was recognized. Most students that do well at these competitions receive both scholarship and career opportunities.

 “Right now we’re finished with most of our classroom learning and now we’re working on customers cars and learning to apply all of the skills we acquired since Auto I,” Brandon Shumway said. (12)

 Students in the Automotive program are very active and successful in competitions around the area.

 “They’re doing a really good job this year,” Aaron Ball, automotive instructor said.

  “I’ve really enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s given me a lot of skills not specifically in automotive, but also life skills. You go in as a sophomore boy and come out as a man,” Harrison Inskeep (12) said.

 The Weber State Competition is a more prestigious automotive competition in the United States.

 The contest started in 1987. It was coordinated for 17 years by Rondo Erickson.

 For a school to compete in the competition they have to be nominated and qualified to enter by getting a passing score on the written test. The written test consists of 50 multiple choice questions.

 Once they have met all of the qualifications and passed the written exam, they can continue on to the hands on part of the competition.

 The top twelve schools will be invited to the hands on competition. The hands on part of the competition takes approximately three hours. It features twelve different work stations that allow you to demonstrate and compare your skills to others. There is an award banquet afterwards.

 The senior with the highest and second highest test scores from every school attend the hands on competition. Each school also brings the third highest scoring senior as an alternate. During the competition the alternate can observe, but in no way participate.