Michelle Perez Presented with Car Care Council Women’s Board (WB) Top Scholarship Award
11/16/2011
Perez attends Skyline College in San Bruno, CA, where she is currently enrolled in the automotive technician certification program.
During its reception
at the Sands Expo Center on Tues., Nov. 1, the Car Care Council Women’s Board
(WB) presented Michelle
Perez of Half Moon Bay, CA with a $2,500 post-secondary scholarship, as
part of the WB scholarship program, now in its ninth year.
“The Women’s Board Scholarship
Committee received many applications from talented and deserving young women
from across the country,” said WB President Ruth Ehlinger, AAA. “I am thrilled to congratulate Michelle on her
accomplishments thus far, and her dedication to pursuing a career in the
automotive industry.”
Perez attends
Skyline College in San Bruno, CA, where she is currently enrolled in the
automotive technician certification program. Upon completion, she will move to
the generic auto tech program to further her studies in automotive technology.
Prior to Skyline College, Perez took auto body courses, including collision,
finishing and upholstery, at the Wyoming Technical Institute. She put her auto
body education to use when she took a job at Midcoast Aviation in St. Louis,
Mo., where she maintained the interior wood grain on private jets.
Perez plans
to take business courses in the future and hopes to one day own an automotive
repair shop with her father.
In addition
to going to school and working full-time in the maintenance dispatch operation
of the Westlake Village Apartments, Perez holds a leadership position in the
women’s auto tech club, Heart Wrenchers, where she is in charge of event
coordination.
Through Heart Wrenchers, her charity involvement includes a
workshop for local Girl Scouts to help earn automotive badges and offering
affordable car care to low income families.
“I believe
with my commitment to Heart Wrenchers and my determination to make a place for
myself within the automotive industry and also with the support of my
community, I can and will make a difference, not only to better my life for the
time that I am here, but for decades to come,” said Perez. “This scholarship
will greatly help me to accomplish this amazing goal that is not distant, but
one that is very much in close reach.”
Chelsea Crisp, Strafford, NH, Amanda Paris, Bend, OR and
Mariana Sceggell, Center Conway, NH won
the $1,000 technician scholarships.
The Women’s
Board is comprised of professional women and men, including company executives,
service shop owners, service writers, motor sports figures, association
executives and consultants, who are dedicated to informing female audiences
about proper vehicle maintenance and safety, while encouraging young people to
investigate automotive career choices. For more information about the Car Care
Council Women’s Board, visit http://women.carcare.org
or e-mail womensboard@carcare.org.