Three students placed at Skills USA district, Feb. 5-6 in Waco.

Senior Wesley Black took gold in Job Skills Demonstration.

“It was pretty exciting,” Black said. “I placed silver last year, but it was nice to place gold this year.”

In the Automotive Service Technology category, senior Alex Eiband placed first and senior Ryan Hage placed third. The two competed against 81 students in the district.

The competitors took a 30 question test, with four to five questions for each component for the vehicle. Then they identified the internal components of the vehicle, such as steering and suspension. Finally, competitors had to do a hands-on portion where they had to work on the vehicles.

“I was actually pretty surprised,” Hage said. “I honestly thought that I didn’t do that good in it.”

By placing in the top three, Eiband and Hage received scholarships from UTI. Hage received $5oo and Eiband got $1000 off their tuition. The boys can also take any manufacture elective of their choice, up to $10,000 in scholarship money.

All three Auto Tech students will compete at state in Corpus Christi, March 31.

Photo by Jeff Milam