Mt. Pleasant High School students excel in hands-on skills competition

MT. PLEASANT — Mt. Pleasant High School auto tech and welding students swept the competition at the Southeastern Community College Southeast Iowa Skill Throwdown, last Friday.

Automotive Technology teacher Jerry Crouch worked with MPCHS Auto Team members Palmer Snavely, Jason Shirkey, Aaron Moler, and Tate Garmore to prepare them to take away First Place in the Auto Tech Team Challenge.

“So during the contest, they went out individually first and had go through four different stations, different areas of what they testing wise,” Crouch explained. “They had like five minutes at each station to do whatever was task was there. One of them was electrical. Another one was alignments. Another one was mounting and dismounting and balancing a tire.”

Senior team member Jason Shirkey, snagged a win in the overall individual Auto Tech competition for the third year in a row.

“Jason has been doing it four years now,” Shirkey said. “Plus, also he works out at Cruising Motors out here at the dealership. He works out there at night after school, or during the afternoon, I should say.”

After other obligations keeping him away the two years previously, Crouch beamed with pride in his students’ accomplishments which he saw first hand for the first time this year.

Industrial Technology teacher Robbie Kinney also exuded pride in his students as he told about Junior Jack Keagle’s success during the welding portion of the competition.

Out of 40 welding competitors, Keagle earned third place at the Throwdown.

“[Keagle] practiced stick welding, arc welding in the horizontal and the vertical technique, and it was a t weld we practice had him practice a little bit,” Kinney said. “We have different topics that the students have to do in welding to help in different angles and different techniques and stick welding to prepare for this contest.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com