PAISD CTE students earn over $20K in scholarships in competition
Published 2:35 pm Friday, April 18, 2025
- 1st place winner Kevin Cisneros, left, Collision Repair Teacher Alex Juarez and 2nd place winner Carlos Gonzalez all traveled to Houston to participate in the UTI Top Tech Challenge. (Dylan Delafosse/Special to the News)
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Seven Port Arthur Independent School District Career and Technology Education students earned top marks and scholarships at a recent competition.
The Auto Collision Repair students attended the Universal Technical Institute Top Tech Challenge in Houston where the challenge consisted of a written exam, vehicle, parts, identification, spray gun parts identification, and live body filler application, MIG plug and fillet welding challenge.
Two students won first and second place, earning a combined $17,500 in scholarships to UTI:
Kevin Cisneros – 1st place $10,000
Carlos Gonzalez -2nd place $7,500
Both students recently received toolboxes to support their continued success.
The following welding students placed in the Top 10 and received a $1,000 scholarship to UTI:
Roberto Meraz Avila – 4th Place
Johnson Nguyen – 5th Place
Erick Bonilla – 8th Place
Daniel Ayala – 10th Place
The welding courses are taught by Vandie Smith, the CTE Campus 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year.
The district offers kudos to Willianys Figueroa, Alexander Esparza, Alfonso Maldonado, Brandon Mata, and Melecio Rodriguez for participating in the competition, as well. PAISD Auto Collision courses are taught by Alex Juarez, our 2023-2024 District-wide Secondary Teacher of the Year.
