Auto Students Prepare for Annual Skills Competition

By Anthony Gilbert

After taking a written test based on automotive technology used in the automotive industry, students from RHS did the best out of the many schools that were in the competition.

According to the Weber State Automotive contest website, (www.weber.edu/automotive) the automotive contest is an annual contest for high school automotive students. Top automotive students from Utah and the surrounding states compete for scholarships, tools, and a vehicle for their school.

The auto tech class had the highest score out of the 24 schools in the state of Utah. RHS scored a 74, which beat other schools such as Bingham, Alta, and Hillcrest. Over 48 schools from five states took the test and the number will be cut down to 24 schools, which will qualify for a hands-on competition based on the school written test score.

The main concept of this competition was for students to get a one-year scholarship to Weber State University and job placement at a local dealership.

Jerren Staker, junior, said that the test consisted of many accessories that had to do with an automobile.

“Everything through suspension, steering, brakes, electrical engine performance, and the drive train were all covered in the test,” said Staker.

Staker also studied for the test along with many of the other students taking the test.

“Each student studied in different ways, some in books, some on the internet, and some studied hands on,” said Staker.

Students who will be moving on to the hands-on competition from RHS are seniors Kendall Schouten, Brock Mower, and Jake Wetzel. Schouten and Mowers got the best scores of the class, receiving a 34 out of a possible 50 points.

RHS not only beat out every school who participated in the state of Utah, but also beat out all the participating schools from those other states. The closest score to RHS was 71, which was just three points away from the score of 74 that RHS scored.

Jordan School District will just be having two schools go back and participate in the hands-on competition.

Jay Hales, the auto tech teacher said, “Only Riverton and Bingham High will be heading back to the competition from our school district.”

The hands-on competition will be held on Feb. 25 at Weber State University.

In this event the selected students will compete for a set of tools, a one-year tuition waiver scholarship from Weber State University, and the chance for their school to win a late model car.

Schools come from other states such as California, Idaho, and Nevada.