KTEC team headed for state auto contest

A pair of high school students who study automotive technology at Kootenai Technical Education Campus will compete next month at the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills contest.

The state competition will be held May 9 at the College of Western Idaho's Nampa Automotive campus.

The KTEC students - Wyatt Brown and Mason Upton - will face off against nine other two-person teams from throughout the state. Brown, from Spirit Lake; and Upton, from Rathdrum, are both seniors. They will be competing for scholarships and eligibility to represent Idaho at the national competition in June.

Dave Carlson, spokesman for AAA Idaho and chair of the contest committee, said this is a "big deal" for students.

"It's a big deal for schools and Idaho communities, too, because it provides some real-world metrics to the Gem State's technical education component," Carlson said in a press release.

Each team faces a daunting task: Race the clock and each other to correctly identify and repair the problems with their identically 'bugged' 2014 Ford Fiesta automobiles.

The contest is designed to replicate the kind of challenging real-world experiences auto technicians will face working for a dealership or an independent auto repair facility.

"Customers expect automotive professionals to complete the work correctly, not just quickly," Carlson said. "We make it tougher with a 90-minute clock and by putting teams side-by-side with their competitors."