Two teens from Heritage High School's auto shop are headed to a national competition after taking the top prize in Arkansas.
Mike Bowles runs the school's Automotive Service Technology Department and says he's entered students into the Ford / AAA Student Skills "Hands On" Competition thirteen times, but this is the school's first time to win first place.
Senior Dakota Phillips and junior Shevin Brace won tens of thousands of dollars worth of scholarships for fixing a set of problems faster than the other teams.
"It was pretty nerve wracking because you go down there and you've got ten of the best teams in Arkansas and you have to compete against all of them," Brace says.
"They put bugs in the cars," Phillips says. "You just go through step procedures to figure out what the bugs are... and basically fix all the bugs until it's correct."
The students are headed to Michigan in June to compete in the national competition.
Bowles says his program appeals to kids who aren't as interested in traditional classes because it allows them to take what they've learned in the classroom out into the shop.
"They can actually put their knowledge to work under the hood," Bowles says. "Finding automotive or some of the other shop classes that are offered at this school becomes motivation for them to do better in their other classes so they can graduate and go on to a career."
The boys won tens of thousands of dollars worth of scholarships for their work, and both have plans to attend technical schools after graduation.
Mike Bowles runs the school's Automotive Service Technology Department and says he's entered students into the Ford / AAA Student Skills "Hands On" Competition thirteen times, but this is the school's first time to win first place.
Senior Dakota Phillips and junior Shevin Brace won tens of thousands of dollars worth of scholarships for fixing a set of problems faster than the other teams.
"It was pretty nerve wracking because you go down there and you've got ten of the best teams in Arkansas and you have to compete against all of them," Brace says.
"They put bugs in the cars," Phillips says. "You just go through step procedures to figure out what the bugs are... and basically fix all the bugs until it's correct."
The students are headed to Michigan in June to compete in the national competition.
Bowles says his program appeals to kids who aren't as interested in traditional classes because it allows them to take what they've learned in the classroom out into the shop.
"They can actually put their knowledge to work under the hood," Bowles says. "Finding automotive or some of the other shop classes that are offered at this school becomes motivation for them to do better in their other classes so they can graduate and go on to a career."
The boys won tens of thousands of dollars worth of scholarships for their work, and both have plans to attend technical schools after graduation.
