High School Students Get A Real Auto Experience

DEARBORN (WWJ) Ford's World Headquarters playing host to a unique competition, as teams of teenage auto technicians showed what they had learned.

It's all part of an annual event, sponsored by Ford and AAA.  The young people diagnose and repair an F-150 pickup, and also take a written test.

"It's great," says Senior Derek Reyst from Saline High School.  "We get everybody out here, the best teams from all over the country and compete for number one."

VIDEO:  WWJ AutoBeat Reporter Jeff Gilbert at the AAA/Ford competition.

There are student teams from each of the fifty states, competing for prize and scholarship money.  Ford and AAA pay the students way to metro Detroit, as they try to show young people that a career as an auto technician can be rewarding.

It also requires more training than ever.

"Cars became more complex and finding quality technicians really became a challenge," says John Neilson, with the AAA national office.

Students also learned more about Detroit's auto industry, visiting the Ford Rouge Plant, among other local destinations.

The whole experience has been an eye opener for high school senior Matthew Saunders of Vail, Oregon.

"We actually learned stuff," said Saunders.  "Instead of just trying to find a problem, we learned the systems and how everything works."