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QUEENS WEEKLY, JAN. 20, 2019
Thomas Edison students show their skills
Quartet from Jamaica high school earns fi rst, third place fi nishes in automotive competition
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BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Two teams from the
Automotive Program at
Thomas Edison CTE High
School in Jamaica earned
first and third place at the regional
National Automotive
Technology Competition in
Queens last week advancing
to the next round.
Four seniors from Thomas
Edison — located at 165-65
84th Ave. — demonstrated
their skills as automotive
technicians Jan. 9 at the Center
for Automotive Education
and Training at 15-30 Petracca
Place in Whitestone.
Team Red — consisting
of Daniel Castro and Roshan
Samad — won first place,
while and Team Blue — consisting
of Jordy Castro and
Lazaro Isidoro — earned a
third place finish.
“The competition so far
has been a really fun, exciting
experience,” said Lazaro.
“We are more motivated
than ever to keep learning
and doing our best to hopefully
go on to nationals and
win it all.”
The nationally recognized
competition was developed
in 1993 by the Greater
New York Automobile Dealers
Association to help curb
the shortage of qualified
automotive technicians and
raise the level of vocational
education standards in the
public school system.
A total of 40 students from
20 different teams in Career
Technical Education (CTE)
school programs, raced
against the clock repairing
car engines and other key vehicle
operating systems.
Four teams from New
York City and three teams
from the Westchester/Rockland
area will advance to
the second round in the
competition — scheduled to
take place Feb. 12, when they
will compete against other
regional winners from Long
Island in an effort to be the
Greater New York representative
at the National Auto
Technology Competition.
The finals, in which
more than $3 million in
prizes and scholarships is
at stake, will be judged before
a live audience at the
2019 New York International
Auto Show in April.
“Witnessing my students’
hard work pay off
was extremely exciting,”
said Miguel Sierra, who
teaches the three-year Automotive
Technology Shop.
“Seeing them do well in the
first round was a wonderful
feeling because I know
how much time they have
dedicated to being successful,
both in the competition
and for their future in
the industry.”
After the results were announced,
each of the regional
winners drew the name of
a car manufacturer, which
will donate a car for the
students to study and work
on in advance of the Feb. 12
New York finals.
“Right now what we need
is a really strong partnership
with dealerships because the
vehicles we’re going to work
on, those are brand new
vehicles that we don’t have
in the school,” said Sierra.
“So for us to get exposure to
those vehicles we do have to
look out for and take advantage
of any help we can get
from dealerships.
Sierra said the competition
helps students
prepare for a career as an
auto technician.
“The people that put
together the competition
are industry dealerships,
so those dealerships pretty
much want certain skills for
technicians that are coming
into those positions. These
competitions really put to
the test to see if we as a school
are preparing our students
properly,” said Sierra.
Looking ahead to the
next competition in February,
Sierra said it’ll be tough
but the top students competing
will apply the knowledge
they learned in class.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–4526.
(From l. to r.) Thomas Edison CTE High School Teacher Miguel Sierra with his students Daniel
Castro and Roshan Samad, who won first place in the National Automotive Technology
Competition. Photos courtesy of Dominick Totino Photography
Students Daniel Castro (l.) and Roshan Samad.
Students Lazaro Isidoro (l.) and Jordy Castro.
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