Northwest instructor wins big at national competition
By Brittany Greer| 8/18/09

It was all about the luck of the draw for Northwest Mississippi Community College Automotive instructor Kevin Miller of Marks when he won a custom-painted motorcycle at a national conference over the summer.

Miller won a 2009 Dyna® Super Glide® Motorcycle, custom painted with products donated by PPG Automotive Refinish during a raffle drawing at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference on June 22-26 in Kansas City, Mo. 

The raffle was held as a fund-raiser for SkillsUSA, a national nonprofit organization serving teachers and high school and college students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations. 

Miller bought $20 worth of tickets for the drawing. “I had no idea I was going to win. I was stunned. I just sat there when they called my name,” he said.

Harley-Davidson donated the deluxe motorcycle and teamed up with PPG and Sharpe Manufacturing Company to bring Justin Barnes of JB Grafix Custom Painting, Inc. to the competition to custom paint the bike. Barnes is best known for his appearances on the Discovery Channel’s “American Chopper.”

Barnes, who designed the paint scheme, painted the chopper on-site in the collision repair contest area during the conference. The design featured PPG’s “O So Orange” formulated with PPG’s premium Global Refinish System. The Skills logo was also painted on the bike.

“Justin Barnes went all out on the paint job. Every skill he has went into the bike. It is truly one-of-a-kind and a real attention grabber,” said Miller.

Miller attended the competition with two Northwest students, John Harrell of Falkner, automotive technology; and Dane Callahan of Enid, tool and die technology.

Harrell and Callahan qualified for nationals after winning gold medals at the state competition at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College on April 17-18. Jason Harris of Red Banks, tool and die technology, also qualified for nationals but did not attend.

“Skills is a great opportunity to spend quality time with students as well as make contacts with people in the industry to help build the program. The competition is also a great way to recruit newcomers into the program. Not everyone will win a motorcycle, but there are a lot of other benefits to being involved,” said Miller.

The Tool and Die Technology program at Northwest is one of the state’s premier community college career-technical programs. A two-year program that includes academics, the program has students waiting to be admitted. One-hundred percent placement for Tool and Die is typical for the program.

Since 1995, under the leadership of instructor Jim Gilliam, the Tool and Die program has received first place 11 times and has placed 18 times in the state SkillUSA competition. In the national competition, the Tool and Die program has been ranked in the top 10 for five out of 11 competitions.

For more information on career-technical programs at Northwest, contact Jerry Nichols, dean, Career-Technical Education/Workforce Development at 662-562-3361.