Students in the Grant Career Center Auto Collision program learn new skills, they exercise in their lab on full size cars, panels, and doors. Dent removal, filler applications, sanding, welding, and painting can be seen on an ongoing basis in the lab. To display their newly achieved skills, the students dropped down in scale to model cars. Students list their favorite cars, and the instructors search through mountains of models at the Ben Franklin store in Bethel. Students open the models with great anticipation and begin the building process. Boxes of assorted parts morph into hot rods, trucks, and great cars of the past. Then the creative process truly becomes apparent. Paints are applied with great precision with tiny brushes and spray guns. Fancy finishes and saucy striping take over, and the plain plastic becomes a work of art.

The judgment day finally arrives and the model cars are lined up next to each other displayed to impress the judges. Staff members from Grant are asked to participate in the judging while Instructors Mike Patten and Ric Kruse take great pride in holding the Model Car Show each year.

Winners of this year’s Model Car Show are as follows:

Best of Show- Ellery Byrd,

Best Junior Model -Logan Hatfield,

Best Senior Model- Mike Collett

Best Junior Paint -(4 way tie) Brandon Dickerson, Jon Martin, Tanner Sharp and Tanner Webb

Best Senior Paint – Ellery Byrd

Best Chrysler – Brian White

Best Ford Corporate – Caleb Nipper

Best General Motor – Nikita Branam

Best Truck/Van – Cory Shelton

Best Subcompact – Jacob Klump

Best Engine – Mateo Figuueroa

Best Interior – Gary Blackburn

Best 1970 & Down Street Rod – Mike Collett

Best 1971 & Up Street Machine (2 way tie) Bryan Carnahan and Brandon Dickerson

Best Race Car- Jeff Fisher

Junior Best Effort – Logan Hatfield

Senior Best Effort – Wes Uttley

If your sophomore son or daughter is interested in a career in the auto collision industry, investigate career options and college partnerships on our website at www.grantcareer.com or call the Career Center for more information at 513-734-6222.