Six NIC students medaled at the Idaho SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference on March 5 and 6 at the College of Western Idaho in Nampa where students from across the state competed in challenges designed to mirror real scenarios in their industry. Three NIC students won gold, two took home silver and one received bronze.
NIC students Chris Brandt won gold and Damien Nord-Fencl won silver in Collision Damage Appraisal; Zoe Hunt won gold and Emily Vig won silver in Automotive Refinishing Technology; Destiny Shamblin won bronze in Collision Repair Technology; and Callitia McClintock won gold in Prepared Speech.
“I’m very proud of how our students did,” NIC Autobody and Paint Technology Instructor Andy Rogge said. “When at a competition, you never really know how they are going to do. These scenarios are a great tool for seeing how they perform outside of their comfort zone and they were really impressive”
Autobody repair students were challenged with tasks from diagnosing and repairing collision damage to proctored tests and mock job interviews. Each task was judged by industry professionals and cumulative scores from various tests determined the winners.
Hunt said that while she wasn’t initially expecting to win the gold in Automotive Refinishing Technology, her experience in the NIC Autobody program prepared her well for competition.
“I think that (NIC Autobody and Paint Technology Instructor Andy Rogge) is just a really good teacher who cares about his students and wants us to get the best education possible,” Hunt said. “We’ve had industry professionals with 30-plus years of experience come in and teach us and work with us individually.”
The three gold medalists will travel to Atlanta to compete in SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference on June 1.
SkillsUSA is a national organization that empowers high school and college students to become world-class workers and leaders through career and technical education and competition. The organization hosts competitions in fields such as cosmetology, culinary arts, diesel mechanics, mathematics and more.
For more information about NIC’s Autobody and Collision Repair Technology Program, visit nic.edu/collision.
