Even though they were competing for the same scholarships, Pro-Tech students Phillip Fry and Smokey Russell committed to putting their friendship and educational development first.
Fry and Russell were both determined to attend the 2013 Vision KC Hi-Tech automotive service training conference. Vision KC is held annually in Kansas City and one of the premier trade shows and industry development conferences in the country.
Both students applied for an Automotive Service Association-Midwest Vocational scholarship, agreeing they would split the award if either won to help each other attend the conference.
While waiting to hear the results, Fry’s sponsor shop, Express Credit Auto in Tulsa, stepped up and agreed to pay for his Vision KC training classes and Smokey received several donations enabling him to attend.
After both registered to attend, Fry received word that he had been awarded a $1000 Vision scholarship to be applied towards his educational expenses and classes at this year’s conference. Since his sponsor shop already paid for his classes, he honored his commitment and gave the scholarship classes to his classmate.
Both Fry and Russell were recently recognized with a presentation of the scholarship check during Pro-Tech’s latest advisory committee meeting attended by industry partners; President Dr. Bill Path; Dr. Greg Mosier, vice president of Academic Affairs; Bill Voorhees, chair of the Division of Automotive Technologies and Pro-Tech instructors, Ryan Lasarsky and Tim Dwyer.
“I think it’s really remarkable the commitment these two students demonstrated to help each other out to further their education,” said Dwyer. “They decided no matter which one won the scholarship; they’d share it to both attend the Vision conference.”
The 2013 Vision conference in Kansas City featured over 60,000 square feet of exhibits offering the latest in automotive service tools, equipment and services for the industry plus management and technical training for supervisors and shop owners. More than 1,500 automotive service professionals from 37 states, Australia and Canada attended this year’s conference to received training.