Aims Community College students showcased their automotive skills at the SkillsUSA Regional Competition on February 6, securing top placements and earning their spots at the upcoming state championship.
Aims Students Showcase Auto Collision Repair and Refinishing Skills at Regional Competition
February 14, 2025
Front row Aims instructors from left to right: Kyle Cadarette, Kaiden Brier and Mike Hanscome. Students pictured in the back row from left to right: Jesse Manuel, Mario Saenz, Teagan Quinby, Logan Stahl, Cloud Kline, Javier Rascon, and Israel Arteaga.
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry founded in 1965 to strengthen our nation’s skilled workforce. Aims enters its 13th year of participating in the SkillsUSA program with a national medal count of 15 podium finishes and nine national championships.
The contest took place at the Automotive & Technology Center on the Windsor Campus. Aims and Morgan Community College students participated in the auto body and repair skills competition.
Professionals from Denver, Cheyenne and Northern Colorado were on hand to judge the students’ work and proficiency in various aspects of automotive refinishing technology. “The judges are looking to see how the student performs tasks and their proficiency in performing them,” said Mike Hanscome, an Aims automotive instructor and advisor for the SkillsUSA team at Aims. “These competencies are what the industry deems necessary for a student to get a job.”
Ten automotive students competed and seven are moving on to state. Aims students compete in secondary (high school) and post-secondary (college) divisions. There are three primary categories of the contest:
- collision repair
- refinishing
- damage appraisal and estimating
The top finishers in each category will compete in the Colorado State Leadership and Skills Conference on April 8-10 in Pueblo. The statewide contest winners move to the Atlanta national competition on June 23-27. The Aims students moving on to state include:
Collision|Post-Secondary
Mario Saenz | first place
Javier Rascon | second place
Logan Stahl | third place
Refinishing | Post-Secondary
Jesse Manuel | first place
Teagan Quinby | second place
Israel Arteaga | third place
Damage Appraisal | Post-Secondary
Cloud Kline | first place
“Participation in this competition is about students investing in themselves and their futures because this is an extracurricular event,” Hanscome said. “They’ve chosen to do this, and the instructors have chosen to give time to help these students.”
Aims Community College automotive degree programs are nationally recognized and certified in secondary and post-secondary educational systems, with the National Automotive Technicians and Education Foundation accreditation. The Aims Automotive & Technology Center is on the Windsor Campus. Get more information at aims.co/automotive.
