Auto shop students driven to compete in national contest
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

AT YOUR SERVICE-Agoura High School's auto shop students earned A's in the National Automotive Service Excellence competition. Dayner Gilmond, left, and Aaron Kutzin, who flank their auto shop teacher, 34-year veteran John Andersen, were among 10 students chosen in the fix-it competition.

"The only difference was the color of the paint" teacher John Andersen said of the two wrecked Ford Escape cars repaired by his students in a state competition at Irwindale Speedway.

Two boys in Andersen's Agoura High auto shop classes won spots in the fast lane of car repair at the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence competition.

The first round of the state competition was a written test, taken by all students in Andersen's four classes. He said about 80 students from his classes competed against 150 other schools in California.

But two students-junior Aaron Kutzin and senior Dayner Gilmond-captured first place in the written examination and moved on to round two of the state competition. Only 10 students in all were selected to compete in phase two of the state competition.

The hands-on competition, Andersen said, required students to repair identically thrashed Ford Escapes.

The junkers had all the standard malfunctions: broken starters and blown fuses, air conditioning and electrical problems.

Kutzin and Gilmond came in seventh in the fix-it stage of the state competition, round two.

"It's quite a feat to get that far (in the competition)," Andersen said. He's been teaching auto shop at Agoura High for 34 years.

The class attracts a few girls each semester who want to learn the ins and outs of auto repair. Many of Andersen's former students now work in the automotive industry throughout the Conejo Valley as service managers, salesmen and mechanics.

He added that both boys were eligible to receive scholarships.

"It was fun. I liked it a lot," Gilmond said. "The hardest part was dealing with all of the excitement and staying focused."

Gilmond hopes to one day work in the automotive industry. He said he encountered no surprises working on the broken car. No wonder. Andersen has locked in a sponsorship from Vista Ford in Woodland Hills. He said the students were able to practice on a loaner car for more than a week to prepare for the competition.

"Cars are more complicated in some ways, and in other ways they are simpler," Andersen said. "Today's cars are far more troublefree and require much less maintenance." He added that Toyota Camrys "run like a top."