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Abbotsford Christian captures top spot in auto skills competition

Students win cash, tools, watches; school wins a car
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Abbotsford Christian teacher Gary Verbeek and students Jim Kielstra and Jared Berndt show off the trophy

Abbotsford Christian School won first place in the ATSO Provincial Student Auto Skills Competition earlier this month.

Students Jim Kielstra and Jared Berndt qualified for the event by having a combined score on their written tests that was one of the top 10 in the province. The 10 teams from around B.C. then met at BCIT May 2-3 for the competition.

This involved diagnosing and solving problems on vehicles in 10 different stations, such as tires, rims, front-end alignment, electrical issues, ABS sensors and more. BCIT instructors set up, managed and did the evaluations at each station.

Winners were decided by tabulating the students' total scores from each station.

Kielstra and Berndt each earned $1,050 in cash, $200 worth of Seattle Tools and Audi watches. The prize for the first-place school was a late model Pontiac Grand Am and a trophy.

Riverside College Trades Training in Mission also sent a team.