Tyler car dealership donates money to East Texas school district for competition

Published 5:45 am Monday, January 24, 2022

With help from the local Classic Toyota dealership of Tyler, senior students of the Longview High School Automotive Club gained a unique learning experience.

In December, Longview High School students attended the North Texas Automobile Dealers Auto Competition at Motor Speedway Pit Row in Fort Worth, a competition that aims to give students the chance to demonstrate their knowledge and skills, while also giving them an opportunity to network, gain scholarships and compete for top honors.

This was the first time students had the opportunity to attend the event.

“I’ve been trying to get in for years,” said Raymond Bouis, Longview High School Automobile instructor. “For us to have a capability of entering this, we had to have a dealership pay $10,000.”

Two students who had the opportunity to attend were Longview High School seniors Jesse Duplissey IV and Calie Logan who have been in the automotive club for years. Both were very appreciative to receive the experience, especially toward Classic Toyota.

“It feels really good, it makes us feel special in a way. It’s an honor,” Duplissey said.

The auto competition was held in two phases which consisted of a workstation challenge where contestants were tested on their knowledge of tools, measuring, certain vehicle service information and even job interview skills.

Phase 2 consisted of a on-vehicle challenge where each team had an amount of time to diagnose and repair problems that were preassigned on a vehicle. Issues on the vehicle are worth a set number of points depending on the level of difficulty during the competition.

Duplissey said the preparation for the competition took two months and even though they didn’t win awards, he was grateful for the experience.

“I think it helps the students more than anything, it’s very eye opening and you get to meet a lot of people. You get your foot in the door, and you get more prepared to get ready for the future,” he said.

Bouis said he is also thankful for the opportunity, especially the knowledge gained by the students.

“The more knowledge a student gets, the more money they make when they get out in the field,” he said.

The automotive team members will continue their journey to another competition in two weeks at the Skills USA district competition in Waco, according to Bouis.