Letter to the Editor
Mechanical know-how
Published Sunday, May 25, 2008
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To the editor:
Two weeks ago, my nephew Austin Sipes Jr. and Justin Grover of North Pole won the title as Alaska’s Best Student Auto Technicians. This Ford Motor Co. event is sponsored nationwide and places teams of high school students in a competitive arena to troubleshoot automotive problems in a limited time.
Both young men will now travel to Dearborn, Mich., to compete in the national finals on June 24.
While there they will compete against 98 other state champions from around the United States for scholarships and awards totaling over $6 million. These young men deserve a round of applause from this community for being, well, let me brag for a minute, only the best high school mechanics in the state of Alaska!
Community Discussion
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Congratulations! We are very proud of you!
Uncle Joe & Aunt Joanne
This is the kind of news that should be "front page" , sorry thats not the way it works, it dont sell papers... Congratulations to the boys and good luck on the nationals, job well done....
Congratulations! You young men make us proud. And wish you the best of luck.
And I agree with Bugger, we need more positive stories of young Alaskans excelling instead of the constant bombardment of the negative type.
That is huge! Right on guys!
Bugger and out in the cold are correct,we need to show our support in the local paper so everyone knows about the good stuff too!
Amen to the thought that the FNM should try putting some GOOD news on the front page once in a while. "News" is NOT always BAD. If these kids had done something awful (or even slightly illegal) they'd have ended up on the front page. Why can't we, as a community, celebrate the GOOD things our young people do? The kids who are bad actors, vandals, jerks and fools get lots of publicity but the best of our kids get nothing. A sad statement about the FNM's priorities.
Jan Thacker did write about this, but I agree, it's front-page worthy. I am so thrilled that our schools are finally recognizing the importance of vocational education and that students are excelling in the programs. Congratulations Austin and Justin!
Congratulations to both of you!! What an honor to represent Alaska, especially in the field of mechanics! Anymore, one needs to know one hell of a lot to work on any kind of equipment, and take it from someone that is not good at it at all, I am IMPRESSED!! Best of Luck and I hope the FDNM picks up on the good things these young men have accomplished already!
Great job guys! I hope you will stay in Fairbanks when you are done with school. We need more qualified, honest mechanics in town. In the lower 48, I kept my mechanical longer than I kept my former spouse. I've had my current mechanic for almost 6 years (and current spouse for 13 years) and I don't plan on giving either up.
Congrats to you both. You are a great inspiration to other young people. I have always been a BIG advocate of vocational training. It is a very worthwhile and valuable source of higher education.
I also have gained a bit of confidence in the future generations, thanks to stories like this...it is refreshing to see that some of our young people are excelling in school and jobs rather than vandalizing, stealing, drinking and drugging.
When we get bombarded by all the bad news, it is hard to be hopeful for our future and our future generations.
Keep up the good work, guys. Good luck in Mich.
Dear DNM, The number of comments here show there is an interest in reading about these types of stories. Local sports do occasionally reach the front pages but other aspects are often neglected.
Sure is nice to read about this kinda thing!
Way to go guys
You Guys Rock! You too Mr. Million.
This news story is beyond worthy of the front page! Print something that is inspiring, motivational and pertinent. Not all teens are 'bad', besides that, there are only 100 students attending this event and 2 of them are from the INTERIOR!
The Auto Tech program at NPHS is awesome and this recognition is well deserved. Trust me, if you ever have an NPHS auto-tech alumnus work on your vehicle, it will be done right!
Grover, go for the Decades Day outfit for the trip.
Mrs.Ward :-)
Just like to say I am proud of these young men as well! I do believe we need to hear much more of the good things young adults are doing today and less of the "bad things". These two are comitted to studying hard and representing Alaska in the best way possible! And I have word they are planning on staying in Alaska to be part of this wonderful community as well! I can say for sure that there are a couple of things right with the school system- and the biggest thing is when young adults get teachers who really do care, and show that to them. Those teachers make THE biggest difference hands down! I want to thank all the teachers that were a positive impact in Justin's life at North Pole- you know who you are! All those teachers that were not so positive- that's ok, he learned something from you too!
I think looking at what kids are doing right as a whole (DNM) gives us an opportunity to see that all teens are not bad and in trouble. It also gives us a chance to make sure that the "squeaky wheels are not getting all the grease"!
WOW!!! Congratulations!! Front page is where this should be!! My son won the U.S. Army's 3rd ID heavy-weight boxing championship right before he was deployed to Baghdad and I contacted EVERYONE, yet no coverage at all. We should be proud of our Fairbanks citizens and we should shout it from the rooftops .... and from the front page of the newspaper!!!
Congratulations! Fairbanks is proud of you.
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