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Alumni page We enjoy hearing from our alumni and hope that you will drop us a line to share your story. Here are a few emails we recently received and we wanted to share them with you.
Are you an alumnus of the Student Auto Skills program? Whether it's the Ford/AAA program or any of the previous programs over the last 63 years, we would love to hear your story.
Stories and pictures of then and now of past participants
If you have a story you would like to share please email us at autoskills@national.aaa.com
Please include then and now story (update) and pictures | At the Washington State finals three of the instructors were graduates of North Thurston High School in Lacey WA. Jerry Globe from Enumclaw High School (1971) l, Mark Emmons from New Market Vocational Skills Center in Tumwater (1988) and myself graduate and instructor at North Thurston (1979). Another point of interest is Garrett Madden a contestant from North Thurston (2nd Place) competed in the same contest his great uncle did 45 years ago(1st Place) they each have their place in history on the trophy shelf. Having competed at the state level 17 years and at the national level 5 years since the Ford/AAA partnership I can attest to the benefits of qualifying for a prestigious competition such as this. The sense of accomplishment and pride will stay with them forever. Brian D. Stretch
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My son, Richard Lawrence, was a competitor in the 2001 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition in Virginia in 2001. Though not making it to the National Championships, he did manage this past year to make it to the Mercedes Benz Team USA National Championship Team that traveled to Germany to compete in the Mercedes Benz World Challenge where Team USA took third place on their very first try! He is currently the Shop Foreman at Mercedes Benz of Alexandria in Virginia and is one of Mercedes Benz poster boys! He would not write to you, but me being the proud papa (and his Automotive Technology Instructor at Hayfield Secondary School when he was a student) thought that you may be interested in his story. If you need any other information please let me know and I will get you in contact with him directly or you may contact me at the address below. Many thanks. John Lawrence |
Yep, I think I might have a story for ya. First, although it wasn't the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills, I happened to be a competitor in a former contest . . . the Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest way back in 1969. I made it to a regional event in PA/NJ/DE and came in 5th Place with a High Point Written trophy. I can still remember so many of the details, but that's a long story. I went on to become an Automotive Technology Instructor at Santa Fe High School in New Mexico in 1984 and had quite a few state winners (1988, 1990, and 1991). In 1995, I left the classroom to become the NM State Trades & Industry Supervisor - still connected to this great competition. I'm now somewhat retired from education and represent industry on our State Technical Committee and a Bronze Sponsor for the National Competition, this year, representing Megatech Corporation. That's a total of about 28 years involvement with Plymouth, Chrysler, Ford, and AAA. However, the REAL story that I'd like to convey is one of my very best students . . . a winner of the 1990 state contest (sorry, but this was a previous manufacturer, again). Anyway, he now owns his third shop and employs three other former students/winners. Extremely successful, he continues to proudly display his awards in his customer lounge. I also have him convinced to assist us with our state contest, next year.
Skip Saurman, President and ASE CMAT | |