KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Maintenance professionals from Michigan and West Virginia took home the top trophies as America’s Best Skills Challenge for school bus inspectors and technicians at the NAPT Summit.
Aaron Dempsey, the lead mechanic for Okemos Public Schools near East Lansing, Michigan, was named champion of the technician category on Monday, while Raymond Dickens, a mechanic at Kanawha County Schools in Charleston, West Virginia, was awarded the title champion inspector.
Thirty-eight professionals in all participated, representing 21 states, as well as British Columbia and Alberta.
The runner-up in the technician division was Spencer Paige of Clear Creek ISD in Texas and Donald Ertel of Virginia Beach City Public Schools was the second runner-up.
The runner-up in the inspector division was Ralph Trango of Wake County Public Schools in North Carolina, and Kevin Roe of Jackson R-2 School District southeast of St. Louis was second runner-up.
In addition to Sunday’s competition, participants over the weekend attended training classes and took written exams to test their expertise.
Next year’s America’s Best event is scheduled for Columbus, Ohio.
