TEMPLE, Texas — Three Temple High School Career and Technical Education students won trophies and scholarship money at the Top Tech Challenge hosted by Universal Technical Institute of Austin on January 25th. The challenge featured students competing in automotive and welding categories.
Temple High School’s Zakary Jarosek won first place overall in the welding competition with a point total of 108. Jarosek, a senior at Temple HS, had to do a horizontal weld using three beads along with a 3F vertical weld during the contest. He hopes to go on to a career as an underwater welder one day and says he also learned something about himself during the competition.
“It felt great to go compete against people from across the state and it helped me gain some confidence in myself,” Jarosek said. “I underestimate myself a lot of times, but competing showed me that I can do this and performing well can also help with getting job down the road. This really shows that I can do things I sometimes think I can’t do.”
In addition to the experience, Jarosek also won $6,500 in scholarship money and a Snap-On welding helmet valued at $3,000. His success in the competition does not come as a surprise to his welding instructor, who sees the benefits from participating in the Top Tech Challenge, not just for Jarosek, but for other students involved in the welding pathway.
“It means a lot for our program, and it shows we are doing things right and turning out students that can compete and win. That means that they can go out into life and win there, as well,” said Jake Lingo, Temple High School CTE instructor. “Zakary comes in and works every day, so he has put in the work. The opportunity to go out and win scholarships and help pay for that experience and education down the road is a great incentive for these students.”
Temple High School juniors Chester Williams and Tyler Gillis competed in the team automotive competition against 40 other two-person teams and finished in second place with a 210-point team total. Williams also finished in second place individually after posting the second-highest total individual score among more than 80 competitors. Automotive tech students competed in both written tests and hands-on competitions including parts identification, brake problems, climate control, electrical problems, and a written Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) test. The competition provided real-world experience for both students and for Williams, who hopes to one day become a diesel mechanic, it also was a chance to practice a wide variety of skills to help him reach his goals.
“I felt humbled and grateful that we were able to take what our instructor had taught us and put it to use,” Williams said. “Going through this competition can help me with opportunities to get jobs. I am able to build my resume, learn how to network, and build connections. It is going to help me going forward and I have more confidence in myself. It will also help lessen the financial worries. I hope other students see this and it sparks something in them. It is an honor to be a student here and have access to these facilities and tools, it goes beyond the wood and the words of the trophy.”
“I was really excited because our goal going in was to finish top three and we did that,” Gillis added. “I’m not sure if I will go into veterinary work or automotive, but it is a great feeling to be able to use what we have been learning.”
Both students also earned $7,500 in tuition grants at any UTI campus based on their second-place finish. That placement also earned Temple High School’s automotive technology program a Snap-On toolbox and Snap-On tools with a combined value of nearly $3,500. Both students give credit to auto tech instructor Brad Hamrick for preparing them for the competition. Hamrick shares the competitors’ pride and hopes that the success is something both these students, and the program, can continue to build on.
“It feels really good to see them perform so well against so many other schools,” Hamrick said. “They were literally tested on everything they would use for certification, so it was an actual real-world experience. I hope that it will grow from here and motivate others to want to compete.”
Representatives of UTI-Austin were on campus February 4 to present the toolbox to the Temple High School automotive program. UTI-Austin instructors served as judges for the competition, which featured schools from across the state of Texas. UTI operates 15 campuses in nine states and offers a wide range of transportation and skilled trades technical training programs.