Competition preps students for Skills USA

These young people know how to use a toolbox.

High school and college students from Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston competed in an auto collision repair competition hosted by North Idaho College’s Parker Technical Education Center on March 4.

The competition hosted students from NIC, Lewis-Clark State College and Spokane Falls Community College, as well as high school students from Kootenai Technical Education Campus and NEWTech Skill Center in Spokane. The group of about 50 students was assigned with estimating the cost of repairs and completing challenges in paint refinishing and autobody repair.

NIC has hosted the contest for local college and high school students for about 15 years, according to NIC Autobody and Paint Technology Associate Professor Cal DeHaas.

The competition, like a similar welding competition hosted by NIC, serves as a pre-qualifier for students to move on to the state Skills USA competition.

The six winners of the high school competition were also awarded scholarships of $500 to $1,500 by the NIC Foundation.

The competition was sponsored by local and regional companies in the industry, including Caliber Collision, Gerber Collision and Glass, PPG Paints, Wesco Paint and Equipment Supply, Auto Paint Plus and SherwinWilliams.

The NIC event is good preparation for the Skills USA competition, and the program’s track record shows it.

Ashleigh Anderson, who finished the NIC autobody and paint technology program in 2021, took first place in the 2021 Skills USA automotive refinishing technology competition. She came back as an alumna this year to serve as one of more than a dozen local industry experts to judge the competition.

“Being on the other side of the competition is really fun,” Anderson said. “I told everybody, ‘Don’t be nervous.’ It’s like full circle, which is exciting, and I’m pretty proud of myself. It’s really good to see the high school students do this, because I started out so late in my life. They can go so much farther, if they really want to. They can keep going and learn a lot more.”

For some regional high school students, the NIC competition is their only opportunity to compete, test their skills under pressure and get feedback from industry professionals.

NEWTech collision repair instructor Don Belcher, who brought 10 students over from the CTE program in Spokane, said though his students can compete in the Washington state Skills USA competition, the cost to travel to western Washington, where the contest is typically held, is a barrier that prevents NEWTech students from participating.

Belcher said the NIC competition offers students the opportunity not only to test their skills, but also to gauge their interest in and passion for the field.

“Through this kind of competition, a student might find out that it’s not their thing, and I tell them, ‘That’s OK. You’ll be good at something else,’” Belcher said. “It’s not for everybody. Better to find out in a program like this than to sign up at NIC, pay tuition and then realize it’s not their thing.”

Lewis-Clark State College Collision Repair Assistant Professor Luke Thomas said the younger students also get a taste of what continued education and participation in the industry could look like.

“The industry coming in and showing their support by donating things and being here to judge is super important because it creates connections for the students,” Thomas said. “The high schoolers watching the college students is really important too, because they can say, ‘If I go to college, here’s the expectation.’”

In the autobody repair category, NIC’s Bryce Tellinghusen and Carson Hudson took first and second place, respectively, with Michael Smartt of LCSC taking third. KTEC took the category in the high school competition, with James Niggemann in first place, Audri Hall in second place and Dorian Bucalo in third place.

In the paint refinishing category, NIC’s Neal Huber and Isaac Rogers took first and second, respectively, and LCSC’s Charlotte Coronado took third place. KTEC’s Caden Smidt took first place in the high school paint competition, with Ethan Armstrong from NEWTech in second place and KTEC’s Jimmy Auten in third place.