Petoskey High School wins Kirtland Automotive Showdown
PETOSKEY — Five Petoskey High School seniors made their way to Grayling for the Automotive Showdown on Feb. 16 at Kirtland Community College.
The students were judged in five different categories. The students placed in the electrical challenge, precision measurement, maintenance and light repair quiz, and multipoint inspection.
Students are tested individually, except in the multipoint inspection competition, which is done by a team of four.
The district competed against six other schools. At the end of the competition, all the total scores and placements were averaged out, and Petoskey High School ended up taking home the top placement.
Petoskey High School seniors Chase Goldenstein, JD Cantrell, Joe Berakovich, Connor Rice and Brett Kloss competed, said CTE automotive teacher Adam Hausler.
The students who won awards took home Snap-On tools as a prize.
“It gives them a chance to compete and show their skills and see how they stand up compared to other schools in the state of Michigan,” Hausler said.
In the competition, the top three students in each category were recognized. The Petoskey team ended up coming home with quite a few honors, Hausler said.
In electrical, Goldenstein took first and Cantrell took second; in precision measurement Goldenstein took second; in the multipoint inspection, the team took second; in the maintenance and light repair quiz, Goldenstein took second.
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"The kids were really excited,” Hausler said. “It was a competition that was designed for the kids to have a good time. They competed, but they had a good time and they learned from it. They seemed pretty pumped up about it when they left.”
Hausler said the competitions provide a good opportunity for students to see how prepared they are to enter the workforce and see if they would be interested in getting more training through a college or trade school.
In the workshop, Hausler is aided in helping the students by paraprofessional Austen Hughey, as well as two volunteers, retired Ford engineer Dave Birkmeier and retired GM engineer Jim Ethington.
— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey High School wins Kirtland Automotive Showdown
