Maui High seeks auto-skills title
By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor
KAHULUI, Maui — Two Maui High School students are revving up to defend Hawai'i's title next week at the national AAA/Ford Student Auto Skills contest.
Seniors Karl Espinda and Robert Bonnes, who won the state finals last month, leave today for Washington, D.C., with their auto-shop teacher, Dennis Ishii.
Robert Bonnes is preparing for a national contest.
The AAA/Ford Student Auto Skills contest combines a written test with a trouble-shooting event in which teams are judged for speed and accuracy in finding and repairing deliberately staged defects in a car.
Teams from Maui High have captured nine state titles in the past 10 years, missing only in 1994. The school's student mechanics won the national title last year and in 1995, under late instructor Kyle Sera, and placed second in 1996 and 1999.
A second Maui High team, made up of Jayson Lumas and Allen Evangelista and coached by Neill Nakamura, took second place in last month's state competition.
Third place went to the Maui team of Zachary Sakamoto and Gavin Nohara of Lahainaluna, coached by Dennis Sasai.
Ishii, who has been teaching at his alma mater for 23 years, said there is no secret to Maui High's success in the competition — it's just plain hard work.
Karl Espinda will help defend Hawai'i's title next week.
"The kids are willing to put in the extra time," Ishii said. "It also helps for me that my wife doesn't mind me putting in the time."
He starts preparing students in October for the written exam in February by meeting twice a week for an hour and a half each session.
Once the school is notified it has qualified for the state finals, the team is picked based on test scores. The student mechanics work every day after school until 8 or 9 p.m. in the 2 1/2 weeks leading up to the state contest.
The same degree of dedication continues through the nationals.
Although the hands-on portion of this year's state contest was eliminated because of the teachers strike, Espinda and Bonnes have been spending a lot of time under the hood of a Ford Focus to prepare for the national event, which opens Sunday with the written test and concludes Monday with the hands-on challenge.
Ishii also credited Valley Isle Motors for its support. The Ford dealership supplies a practice car for the students, and auto technicians Manny Nunez and Shannon Rowe, a member of Maui High's 1996 team, donate countless hours to help out.
Many of Maui High's student mechanics have found work at Valley Isle Motors after taking advantage of scholarships won in the auto-skills contest, Ishii said.
