Awarded a $10,000 scholarship in state competition
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – While many of his classmates might be thinking about summer plans closer to home, Safford High School senior Dallin McBride will be packing his bags for Atlanta, Georgia, where he’ll compete in the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference from June 1-5.
McBride, fresh off a first-place finish in the state-level automotive competition, earned the right to represent Arizona against the best young technicians from across the country. Just two years after fellow Safford senior Hugh Larson brought home the state title and made the same trip, the Safford Automotive Program is once again sending one of its own to the national stage. It is the fourth overall state SillsUSA champion for SHS, who also lists Emitt Post as champion in 2019 and Krystopher Tackett as champion in 2022.
According to SkillsUSA, the national competition is the culmination of a yearlong process that begins in local chapters. Winners advance from regional events to state competitions each spring, with gold medalists earning the chance to compete nationally each June. Along the way, top performers can pick up scholarships, tools, and even job offers. The massive event takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, which spans more than 1.79 million square feet — roughly the size of 31 football fields.
Ed Taylor is in his 18th year leading the Safford Automotive Program at Safford High School. The three-year program provides students with beginning, intermediate, and advanced instruction, with plenty of hands-on work in brakes, electrical systems, engine diagnostics, and the latest automotive technology.
“My goal is to teach them how to do the job and then maybe even place them in the industry if that’s where they want to go or one of the many tech schools, including EAC, if that’s what they want to do,” Taylor said.
McBride said he’s had an interest in cars for as long as he can remember, working on vehicles at home with his dad and brother. He stepped into the honors automotive program as a sophomore and quickly delved beyond basic oil changes and tire rotations.
“You learn a lot in this class,” McBride said. “You learn brakes, electrical, everything you need to know — engine stuff. We’re doing turbos on his truck right now. And yeah, it’s just really good.”
He pointed to electrical systems as one of the tougher areas, but one where the program’s console lab boards — electrical trainers — have helped him practice repeatedly. The class works on everything from older, simpler vehicles to newer computerized models using scan tools, and they even take in customer cars for advanced students to tackle real-world repairs. When something is too specialized, like certain new Volkswagens, they refer it to a dealership.
Preparation for the state competition started at the regional level in February, where McBride and two classmates from the program placed in the top six and advanced. In the week and a half leading up to state, Taylor reviewed common trouble spots from past competitions based on feedback from other students.
“Just working every day helps a lot,” McBride said. “We basically knew everything that came up with the competition.”
At the state level, McBride came out on top among dozens of competitors from other high school automotive programs. His win earned him a $10,000 scholarship to Universal Technical Institute (UTI), along with free specialty training in areas such as Chevy, Dodge, Ford, Cummins, and Freightliner at the Phoenix campus.
He’ll be heading to nationals with his friend James Curtis, who also competed at state. The group will fly out with Taylor and Safford High School Principal Tad Jacobsen.
McBride isn’t entirely sure yet what Atlanta has to offer beyond the competition floor, but he plans to check with Taylor, who has made the trip several times before.
After high school, McBride plans to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico and learn to speak Spanish. When he returns, he’s weighing the UTI path, thanks in large part to the scholarship, or a welding future through the welding program at GIFT at Eastern Arizona College (EAC). He likes the idea of eventually combining skills — maybe opening his own fabrication, welding, and auto shop one day. Skills he partially honed in Safford’s auto program.
“It’s really one of the best autos programs, definitely within a large radius of here. Probably within the whole state, I’d say,” McBride said. Students can bring in their own cars on days when it doesn’t interfere with instruction, and Taylor is quick to help. “We really learn a lot from him. And he’s a great teacher. He’s been here for… I don’t know, probably around 30 years. So he knows what he’s doing.”
Taylor, for his part, gives a lot of credit to the students who come in already putting in the work on their own time.
“It’s kind of like having a sport,” Taylor said. “If in the off-season you are working out and you’re doing the things you need to do, then it really helps you be better when you’re competing. These guys usually are pretty deep in working on their own cars on their own time, and then I just hone that skill a little bit better.”
He’s proud of McBride’s performance and trusts him enough to let him work on his own vehicle. “He does a great job. He’ll do great at whatever he chooses to do because he has that kind of a go and do attitude.”
Taylor said he is looking to retire in about four years and hopes to have a former student return to continue the auto program and advance it to the next level, including electric vehicles.
With another state title heading to Safford, the automotive program continues to prove it produces students ready for the next level — whether that’s national competition, technical school, or straight into the trades.
