ANKENY, Iowa — Two DMACC Perry VanKirk Career Academy students captured sixth place in the 29th annual DMACC/Iowa Automobile Dealers Association (IADA) Automotive Skills Contest recently held at the DMACC Ankeny Campus.
DMACC Perry VanKirk Career Academy students Connor Smith and Chaz Warson, both of Madrid, were the skills competition sixth-place finishers. For taking sixth-place, they each received donated tools and supplies.
DMACC Southridge Center Career Academy students Carson Hinds of Norwalk and Waylon Lawr of Indianola were the skills competition first place finishers.
Roland Story High School took second place and Boone/Nevada High School captured third. Other schools competing were LeMars high School, the DMACC Ankeny Campus Career Academy, the DMACC Perry VanKirk Career Academy, Algona High School and Ames/Ballard/Collins-Maxwell/
Hinds and Lawr each received numerous tools and supplies donated by the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association. Each member from the other seven teams also received tools and supplies from the Association for their participation in this competition. In total, more than $24,000 worth of tools and equipment was awarded to the contestants.
Eight two-member teams of Iowa high school automotive students qualified for the hands-on portion of the Automotive Skills Contest by having the highest average scores on a written test held in November on the DMACC Ankeny Campus. More than 130 students representing 12 Iowa high schools competed in the written portion of the contest.
The DMACC Foundation provided $1,000 scholarships to each of the first-place finishers, $600 scholarships to each of the second-place winners, $400 scholarships to each of the third-place winners and $250 scholarships to the fourth-place finishers.
“There are numerous job opportunities in the automotive technology field today and by hosting this annual event, DMACC can showcase its new Karl Chevrolet Automotive Technology Center to many potential future automotive technicians,” said DMACC Automotive Technology Program Chair Jerry Burns.
For more information on DMACC’s Automotive Technology programs, visit the DMACC website.
Dan Ivis is the Des Moines Area Community College media liaison.
