Crash Course: Collision Repair students vie for shot at regional competition
Published 5:53 pm Friday, February 9, 2018
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye As part of the competition, the students had to demonstrate a variety of collision repair skills. Shown here are Dylan Anderson, left, and Jared Houghton.
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye A student works on a body repair as part of the Collision Repair competition at Unaka High School on Friday morning.
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye Austin Hampton goes through a mock job interview as part of the competition.
Star Photo/Abby Morris-Frye A student demonstrates his welding skills during the competition Friday morning at Unaka High School.
Contributed Photo/Unaka High School Several students in the Collision Repair program at Unaka High School took part in a special competition Friday which was judged by local repair shop owners and collision repair experts.
Students in the Collision Repair program at Unaka High got the chance to demonstrate their skills on Friday while vying for a chance to compete at the regional level.
UHS Collision Repair instructor Scotty Johnson developed the competition as a way to select which students would advance to the SkillsUSA Regional Competition to represent the school in the fields of Collision Repair Technician and Automotive Refinish Technician.
“I can only send two students to the SkillsUSA Regional, one ART and CRT,” Johnson explained.
To determine which students would earn those two spots, Johnson worked with local collision repair professionals and school staff to set up the competition.
The students had to demonstrate a variety of skills needed to repair vehicles such as dent repair, welding, paint mixing, prep work, and proper safety. As the students worked on their projects, local collision repair shop owners and collision repair professionals scored them on their work.
The students also had to fill out a job application and go through a job interview with UHS Principal Betsy Oliver and UHS Career Technical Education (CTE) Principal Dr. Melissa Loveless.
During the interview process, the students were asked to describe their strengths and weaknesses, detail their training and experience, and articulate why the “employer” should choose them over other candidates.
At the end of the day, the scores were tallied, and certificates were awarded to the top three finishers in Collision Repair Technician and Automotive Refinish Technician.
In the ART category, Athin Hughes captured first place and will advance to the SkillsUSA Regional Competition. Dylan Anderson picked up second place, and Jared Houghton garnered third.
In the CRT category, Austin Hampton captured first place and will advance to the SkillsUSA Regional Competition. Micah Berry picked up second place, and Austin Grant garnered third place.
“We would like to extend a special thank you to the following people who participated and helped with the competition: Elizabethton Auto Collision, G&G Auto Body Supply, Shane Fleenor, James Buchanan, Jeff Guinn of Jeff’s Paint & Body, and all the staff at Unaka High School,” Loveless said.
