Seniors from a Jamaica high school win
big at Whitestone auto repair competition
Coach Miguel Sierra holds trophies with team members Omesh Deaudharrie and Brian Persaud. Courtesy of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Students from a Jamaica
technical education high
school cinched the top two
prizes at the 30th annual New
York City Auto Tech Competition
in Whitestone.
Thomas A. Edison High
School seniors Omesh Deaudharrie
and Brian Persaud
showcased their car repair
mastery on Jan. 8, earning the
top honors and $25,000 each in
scholarships. Second-place winners
and fellow Thomas Edison
students Bryan Jean Louis and
Felix Mercado and third-place
finishers Leon Boodram and
Vishnu Sawh from A-Tech High
School in Brooklyn also earned
scholarships.
During the competition,
Deaudharrie and Persaud
correctly diagnosed and fixed
pre-programmed bugs in a
Mazda in the shortest time and
claimed victory as the city’s
top auto technician students.
Thomas Edison Coach Miguel
Sierra managed and helped
train both of the school’s competing
teams.
The six students earned
a trip to the state finals in
February, affording them the
chance to represent New York
nationally at the New York
International Auto Show in
April, when 29 teams from
across the country and Canada
will compete for the chance
to win $3 million in prizes and
scholarships.
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.22 COM | JAN. 17-JAN. 23, 2020
The Greater New York Automobile
Dealers Associationsponsored
competition took
place at the Center for Automotive
Education and Training in
Whitestone, where 20 teams of
seniors from career and technical
education (CTE) schools
in New York City, Rockland
and Westchester Counties
fixed real engine and car parts
at 15 work stations as part of
this timed competition.
“Each work station is a different
skill set and it would
be anything that they would
have to do at a dealership. We
have wheel alignment, basic
electrical, tool identification,
engine repair,” said GNYADA
Executive President Eddie
Gazzillo. “We try to push them
a little bit further than what
they’re doing at their regular
schools.”
Queens Village resident
Jean Louis said that Sierra
prepared them well, so they
knew what to expect on competition
day.
“We’ve been training for
this competition since school
started in September,” he said.
His teammate Mercado added
that they clocked in more than
20 training hours at home and
at school.
“At school, we would work
on cars and when we went
home we had a website, Electude,
that has courses you can
take,” said Mercado. “After
school, we used to meet up
when our instructor had time.
We’d meet up with him and
we’d go over anything and everything
that we could in that
short amount of time.”
Both of the students said
that they intend to pursue a career
in the auto industry once
they graduate high school.
According to GNYADA, there
will be approximately 75,000
open auto tech jobs in the
coming years. The skills the
students displayed will help
them as future auto technicians,
who can earn upwards
of $100,000 working at dealerships
across the region.
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@qns.
com or by phone at (718) 260-
2583.
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