Jordan High’s automotive program wins national contest

A Muscogee County high school’s automotive program has won a national contest restoring and customizing a classic Mustang.

Quaker State Best in Class Challenge officials announced the good news to the Jordan Vocational High School team in a conference call on Friday. Jordan was one of five finalists out of 55 semifinalists competing for the grand prize: having their Mustang shown at a Barrett-Jackson auction, billed as the world’s greatest classic car show, April 6-8 in West Palm Beach, Fla., and being allowed to keep the profit from the sale of their vehicle.

As a finalist, Jordan received a used Ford Mustang, valued at up to $3,000, and $2,000 worth of supplies from AutoZone to restore and customize the vehicle. The other finalists were: Charles B. Aycock High School in Pikeville, N.C.; New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill.; Kearny (N.J.) High School; and Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Fla.

This year’s judges included Tommy Pike, owner of Greenville, S.C.-based Tommy Pike Customs, and Sung Kang, an actor, producer and car enthusiast, known for “The Fast and the Furious” movies. They used remote video to judge the finalists during the six-week period.

Robert Harris and Tony Woodard are the teachers in Jordan’s 200-student automotive program. Mike Young is the professional consultant. The students representing Jordan as Team Red Jacket in the contest are Austin Bedsole, Joseph Camacho, Felerick Cofer, Joseph Craigen, Alejandro Gomez, Dante Lummus, Breanna Price, Jacob Van Eram, Jacob Wilton and Trennie West.

Contest officials said on the conference call that Jordan outscored the other finalists in every category and totaled 97 out of 100 possible points. Jordan also won the online voting category, so this was a victory for their school, families and community as well, said the team members.

After the conference call, Harris told the Ledger-Enquirer that winning this contest with these students is an “awesome” feeling.

“To see the emotions from the students when the announcement came, it was just priceless,” Harris said.

Team Red Jacket members went “above and beyond” the contest requirements while keeping their grades up, taking care of responsibilities and staying out of trouble, Harris said. He estimated the team worked on the car 60 hours per week during the six-week contest. In addition to their automotive class, they worked on the car after school from 3:30 p.m. to as late as 10 p.m. and on the weekends from 9 a.m. to around 11 p.m., he said.

Despite receiving guidance from adults, the students did “95 percent” of the work, Harris said. And he has video from the GoPro cameras the students wore to prove that assertion, he added.

Their work wasn’t always smooth. Harris admitted he felt anxious during the fourth week, when he came into the shop and the car still was “torn into 10,000 pieces.” But they created more work for themselves because they wanted to do an superior job after receiving a car that was flooded.

“It was in such bad shape,” Harris said. “We didn’t want to go halfway because when we go to a certain level, we noticed other things were wrong, and we wanted to go ahead and take care of those things.”

They even painted the car in Jordan’s school colors and emblazoned the seats with the Red Jacket mascot.

Joseph Craigen, a junior, also admitted some doubt around that fourth week.

“Scared as crap,” he said.

But they persevered because the team came together and overcame personality conflicts, said Jacob Wilton.

“I know sometimes I wanted to take a couple people’s heads off,” he said. “But you can’t do that. You suck it up. You cool down and you get back to work, and you’re a family again.”

Dante Lummus, a junior, added, “You start to understand that this project is bigger than all of us combined.”

Beyond improving their teamwork, they also used this project to hone their automotive skills.

Breanna Price, a senior, said she already has job offers for the detailing work she did on the car. Joseph Camacho, a senior, led the paint crew and now is motivated to pursue automotive work as a career.

“At first I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but now that we did this project, it gives me a clear vision,” he said.

The victory came at a time when the Jordan family’s spirit needs a boost. Jordan graduate D’Antonio Gaines, 19, died Nov. 26 in a car crash and Jordan custodian Nathaniel Brooks, 68, died Nov. 29 in his sleep, Harris said.

That kind of perspective from Harris is another reason why Jordan principal Amy Wohler praised him for guiding the team.

“He just exemplifies every ideal in being an excellent educator,” she said.

This story was originally published December 2, 2016 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Jordan High’s automotive program wins national contest."