"To love what you do and feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun!"

                                                                                                            -Katherine Graham

Teresa Bolton, ASE Collision Repair and Refinishing Technical Specialist, poses on her Harley.

Spirit, passion, enthusiasm - and the huge capacity for doing something right describes Teresa Bolton to a T. Bolton, the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Collision Repair and Refinishing Technical Specialist, spearheaded the efforts to send two SkillsUSA students to represent the United States at the World Skills Competition in Helsinki, Finland next month. Bolton presented her case to the National Auto Body Council (NABC) in April 2004 at its board meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. With a quiver in her voice and determination in her heart, Bolton asked the Council for help. "The United States will not be represented at the World Skills Competition unless we raise the funds to get them there!" she implored.

With NABC board approval, Bolton began the fund-raising project. She wrote letters and made calls - and wrote more letters and made more calls. "I had lots and lots of help," Bolton smiled. "This was my flame but other people took the torch."

Chuck Sulkala, NABC executive director, is Bolton's "fund-raising mentor." Sulkala told her, "Don't worry about the dollars. Worry about the nickels and dimes and the dollars will come." And they did. However, in February 2005, collected funds were short about $8,000.

"Chuck sent out a mass e-mail and it created an e-mail snowstorm for a week! I could not believe what I saw. All these people poured their hearts out," she continued. By the end of that week, all the necessary money was collected and a reserve started for World Skills 2007!" said Bolton. In less than a year, Bolton and NABC raised $50,000 to send two students to represent the United States at the competition. Donations ranged from $25 to the maximum allowable $3,000.

And the competitors are...

Two young men achieved the highest honors and earned their way as the U.S. representatives to the World Skills Competition in Helsinki.

Nickolaus Ranker from Lakewood, Colorado, is the collision technician competitor. Ranker has always been interested in repairing cars. At 13, he started by helping restore a Mustang for his school fund-raiser. He worked for three summers, restored three Mustangs and gained a wealth of hands-on experience. Ranker worked the collision repair program in high school, subsequently becoming involved with Warren Tech - a vocational program affiliated with his high school.

From his first hands-on experience through his high school auto collision program and affiliation with Warren Tech, becoming a competitor in the World Skills program has brought Ranker to the pinnacle of success. After winning the District and State SkillsUSA contest two years in a row, he won the National SkillsUSA high school competition in 2003. His high ranking in the 2004 National SkillsUSA is sending him to Helsinki. Currently, Ranker is working as a body helper at McDonald Automotive Group Collision Center in Englewood, Colorado. Under the mentorship of body technician and Warren Tech advisory board member Pat Griffith, Ranker will soon move up into a journeyman's position.

Bodie Smith, Spanish Fork, Utah, grew up working on cars with his dad. His older brother became a collision repair technician and taught Smith more about the trade. Thus it was a natural chain of events that put Smith in the collision repair classes at Spanish Fork High School.

As a collision repair student, he first participated in the SkillsUSA competition, placing second in the Utah State Competition two years in a row. After high school graduation, Smith pursued his Associates Degree in collision repair at Utah Valley State College in Provo. As a college student, Smith continued in SkillsUSA competition, placing first in Utah and moving into the national SkillsUSA championship, where he earned the right to represent the United States as the refinish (car painting is the international term) representative in Helsinki. Smith has been working since college at Cascades Collision Repair in Provo.

Preparing for competition

The preparation for these competitors is serious. And the spirit of industry involvement behind these two young men and this national endeavor is awe inspiring. The international processes for competition are not specifically chosen to accommodate our training programs.

To prepare Smith to spray water-borne paint, Bill Pittinger, Spies Hecker, is bringing him to Detroit to train. SADA is donating the specialized spray equipment.