The American Automobile Association and Ford are giving high school students the keys to start their careers in the automotive repair industry as they team up to test students' automotive knowledge and technical skills. Approximately $200,000 in scholarships will be awarded in addition to other valuable prizes.

On Thursday, May 15, 20 juniors and seniors from seven high schools across the state will convene at Central Maine Community College in Auburn to challenge each other in the annual Ford/AAA Auto Skills Competition. Each two-student team will strive to correctly diagnose and repair intentionally installed faults or "bugs" on identical vehicles. The winning team will need to repair every bug and then drive the vehicle across the finish line. In addition to receiving scholarships and other valuable prizes, the winners will represent the state in the National hands-on Finals at Ford Headquarters in Michigan in June. Each year many of participants move on to promising careers in the automotive industry as a result of participation in the competition and the scholarships they win to some of the top technical schools in the country. This comes at a time of high demand for well-trained technicians. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the need for qualified technicians will grow by between nine and 17 percent through the year 2014, meaning current competitors will be well positioned to find employment upon completion of their training.

Both the national and the state-wide competitions are organized with the support of Ford personnel, local automotive instructors, and AAA's Approved Auto Repair program; a public service AAA performs to identify quality repair facilities throughout the country.