Seven Aims automotive students make it to state championship

Aims Community College Automotive and Technology program students from the Windsor campus were scheduled to compete for national honors at the SkillsUSA Regional Championship.

Mike Hanscome, an Aims automotive instructor and advisor for the SkillsUSA team at Aims, said professionals from Denver, Cheyenne, and Northern Colorado were on hand to judge the students’ work and proficiency in various aspects of automotive refinishing technology.

“The judges are looking to see how the student performs tasks and their proficiency in performing them,” Hanscome said. “These competencies are what the industry deems necessary for a student to get a job.”

The contest took place at the Windsor Campus at the Automotive and Technology Center. Then, the students entered an auto body and repair skills competition at Morgan Community College in Fort Morgan.

Aims Community College Skills USA was founded in 1965. According to officials, it is a nonprofit partnership and industry established to enhance its nation’s skilled workforce.

Aims Community College students have participated in the SkillsUSA program for 13 years with a record of a national medal count of 15 podium finishes and nine national championships, according to officials.

Women are entering the competition and interested in learning how to fix cars. Credit: Aims Community College

Ten automotive students competed, and seven placed to move on to the state competition. Then, the Aims students compete in two divisions: secondary high school and post-secondary college. According to officials, the three primary categories in the contest are collision repair, refinishing, damage appraisal, and estimating.

The top finishers in each category will attend the state competition, the Colorado Leadership and Skills Conference, on June 23-27.

The students who made it to state competition:

Collision|Post-Secondary

Mario Saenz | First Place

Javier Rascon | Second Place

Logan Stahl | Third Place place

Refinishing | Post-Secondary

Jesse Manuel | First Place

Teagan Quinby | Second Place

Israel Arteaga | Third Place

Damage Appraisal | Post-Secondary

Cloud Kline | First Place

“Participation in this competition is about students investing in themselves and their futures because this is an extracurricular event,” Hanscome said. “They’ve chosen to do this, and the instructors have chosen to give time to help these students.”

According to officials, the Aims Community College automotive degree programs are nationally recognized and certified in secondary and post-secondary education.

It’s the National Automotive Technicians and Education Foundation accredited them. The Aims Automotive & Technology Center is on the Windsor Campus.

For more information, visit aims.co/automotive.