Old Colony Archives
Old Colony junior shows he is tops in the automotive shop
John Mendonca places first in state competition
By Michael Medeiros, Editor
The Advocate
November 15, 2001
ACUSHNET-- When he was a sophomore last year, Acushnet resident and Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School student John Mendonca was one of many who competed in the Massachusetts Automotive Dealers Technology Competition.
This year he seperated himself from the 300-plus pack by coming in first. Over 340 students participated in the written portion of the competition. Out of those entrants, though, only 21 were chosen to compete in the hands-on portion in which the students could demonstrate their abilities at four different work stations. Impressively enough, six of the 21 came from Old Colony: they were Mr. Mendonca, Marc Deneault, Christopher Cabral, Robert Noyes, Jake Souto and Jason Jacques.
"It's a good experience for the students, both hands-on and written" said Don Mosher, an automotive instructor at Old Colony who, along witgh fellow instructors George Doyle and Dennis Frates, brought the whole automotive class of about 35 students to the competition. "They're using related skills plus trade skills."
No one knows what will be asked of them at the work stations before the competition. That's why it's so important to practice all the possible scenarios before hand. This year the four categories turned out to be electrical setup, brake setup, tubing and flaring and micrometers. And the large, crowded Bayside Expo Center, where the competition was held during the Massachusetts Automotive Dealers Car Show, was a little more intimidating than the small shop where the students honored their craft.
"There were a lot of people looking at your appearance as well as how you perform" said Mr. Mendonca.
All in all, the four timed stations added up to about a 90 minute test. The pressure of working under the clock, and with hundreds of eyes watching, didn't phase the eventual winner.
"It actually went by pretty quickly," said Mr. Mendonca.
Now working part time at Route 44 Toyota, he added that a representative from Merceded came by to talk to him at the competition. Working for that company was something Mr. Mendonca definitely wouldn't mind doing, and, down the road, could be one of the added perks that being number one brings.