THS Tractor Technician team headed to state

Three Teague High School students are headed to state in the Tractor Technician competition to be held March 7-8 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Senior Ian Fitzgerald and juniors Maverick Lee and Andrew Tucker make up the team that placed 1st in the district contest. They then finished 2nd place at the Area 8 Tractor Technician contest on Thursday, January 21, at the John Deere Technical College on the Navarro College Campus in Corsicana. United Ag & Turf out of Ennis supplied the tractors for the debugging portion of the competition.

Lee was first place high point individual and Fitzgerald was the second place high point individual. Tucker finished as the tenth place individual.

“I am extremely proud of their hard work and dedication this year with this year being so challenging and different,” Advisor Ed Strange said, “This was their first contest and they came through and learned a lot. They have put in many hours of studying and working on components to get ready.”

In this three part competition, team members appraise components and parts of trac tors and agricultural implements and make recommendations for services needed and not needed, complete a written exam and finally the team of three members, working as a group, will compete in locating and correcting five deliberately placed malfunctions in diesel fueled tractors and safely navigate the repaired tractor through a driving course within the 25 minute time limit.

“The team will continue to study and practice scenarios of tractor malfunctions after school the month of February in preparing for a very tough state contest where the top 36 teams from 12 Areas in the state will be; all coming from 1A-6A school size,” Strange said.