Area high school students beat top competitors from across the province to take the title in the BCAA/BCIT/BC Ford Dealers’ Student Auto Skills Challenge.
Maclean Lintott and Dusten Miller from Kwalikum Secondary School took first place at the Student Auto Skills Challenge. They tied for first for the hands-on competition which left the judges to turn to the written exam scores from a month earlier where KSS beat Rutland Secondary (Kelowna) by 1.5 points.
Lintott and Miller walked out with prizes and scholarships for themselves and a car for their school’s automotive program.
Twenty automotive students from across B.C. put their skills to the test at the auto challenge held in Burnaby on April 30.
The three top teams received a total of $7,000 in automotive scholarships to the post secondary institution of their choice, and open scholarships to BCIT’s Motive Power program.
Nervous parents and high school automotive instructors waited patiently in the stands as each two-student team worked under the hood.
They had to properly diagnose and repair identically “bugged” 2011 Ford Focus vehicles in a set time. Cheers went up from the spectators as each engine started, according to teachers and parents who attended. Along with the scholarships, the students won tools and a 2002 Ford Windstar van for the school to work on.
For more on the challenge check bcaa.com/studentautoskills.
writer@pqbnews.com