Two Perry DMACC VanKirk Career Academy High School students captured seventh place in the 28th annual DMACC/Iowa Automobile Dealers Association (IADA) Automotive Skills Contest held Dec. 13 at the DMACC Ankeny Campus.
Earnings honors for the Perry DMACC community were Charley Guardado of Perry and Nolan Saveraid of Adel.
The team from LeMars High School took first place, with Collins Maxwell/Colo-NESCO/North Polk/Roland-Story/West Marshall High School taking second place and the Southwest Community College Career Academy capturing third. Other competing schools were Ankeny DMACC Career Academy, Nevada High School, Boone High School, Perry DMACC Career Academy and Ames/Ballard/South Hamilton High School.
Guardado and Saveraid each received numerous tools and supplies donated by the IADA. Each member of the other seven teams also received tools and supplies from the IADA for their participation in this competition. In total, more than $23,000 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 220 students representing 16 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.
Dan Ivis is the media liaison at the Des Moines Area Community College.
