AG junior to compete in national auto body repairs competition
Cody Dice, an Albert Gallatin Area High School junior and student in the Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School auto body program, will compete at the national SkillsUSA Championships to be held later this month. Dice will travel to Kansas City, Mo., with SkillsUSA club chaperone and electrical instructor “Gus” Rossi for five days of competition, June 20-25.
Rossi called the national competition a big gathering where a lot of talent will come together. He noted that few students reach this level, and it takes paying attention and wanting to learn and practice.
“To be in this caliber of competition, (Dice) did very well,” Rossi said.
William Trimbath, vo-tech auto body program instructor, said Dice is “an exceptional boy,” noting students from his program have attended the national competition, but did not place in the top tier of students. He hopes Dice is the first to accomplish that feat.
“His ability to reach this level of competition speaks volumes for him,” Trimbath said. “He’s an intelligent student who picks up on his skills quickly.”
Dice, who resides in Smithfield with his parents James and Renee Dice, is brushing up on his auto body skills in preparation for the competition. He said he believes he will have more time to practice with the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) testing season behind him.
Dice placed first in the regional and state SkillsUSA competitions held in January and April, respectively.
He said he owes the skills he demonstrated at the competitions to the Fayette County vo-tech.
“It was everything,” Dice said of the vo-tech, noting he had no prior auto body experience until taking classes at the vo-tech.
With the national competition looming, Dice said he’s excited, yet a bit nervous. He expects the national competition to pose more of a challenge.
More than 5,000 career and technical students – all state contest winners – will work against the clock and one another, competing hands-on in 96 different trade, technical and leadership fields, according to the website of SkillsUSA, a national, nonprofit organization. Contests are run with the help of industry, trade associations and labor organizations and test competencies are set by industry, the website states.
About 10 area schools competed in the regional competition held at the Fayette vo-tech in January. About 1,000 students from different schools attended the state competition held in Hershey in April.
At the state competition, students were given around two hours to perform hands-on work at several different stations. Each station involves a different area of auto body repair. Welding, filling dents and painting are among the areas on which he’s tested. He also took the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) test.
“It’s an all-day event,” said Dice.
As a prize after winning first place at the state competition, Dice was given $18,000 in scholarships that can be used at WyoTech or the Automotive Training Center after he graduates high school.
“I’m very proud of him,” Renee Dice said.
Although he said he experienced no major difficulties doing well in the regional and state competitions, he, nevertheless, is surprised he won.
“I didn’t think I would win. I was happy I did,” Dice said.
This year marks the second consecutive year a Fayette vo-tech student competed in the national SkillsUSA competition.
Brownsville Area High School and Fayette vo-tech graduate Zachary Rohrer won at the regional and state levels and placed 23rd in the national competition last year. He competed in the computer applications division.
Usually, seniors are sent to the competition, so Dice, being a junior, could have the chance to try again for a win next year if he doesn’t fare well this month.
If Dice places in the top four on a national level, he will qualify for post-secondary scholarships.
Rossi, who started traveling with the students to regional, state and national competitions about 22 years ago and was named Western Regional Adviser of the Year in 2002, has helped vo-tech students bring home medals from the state competition every year in a variety of shops.
Rossi said he is excited about making his second trip in two years to Kansas City, and no matter what the outcome is, he feels that Cody Dice should be very proud of all that he has accomplished so far.