Matthew Cornehlsen and Joseph Stevens, students at the Perryville Career Center, have qualified for the "hands-on" Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Quality Care Challenge next month at St. Louis.

The May 7 contest at the AAA Auto Diagnostic Clinic in St. Louis, will feature two-person teams from 10 highs school automotive programs.

The teams will race against the clock to diagnose and repair a deliberated "bugged" 1998 Ford Taurus.

The teams will compete for thousands of dollars in scholarships and a trip to Washington to represent Missouri in the national finals in June.

Corehlsen and Stevens, the only Southeast Missouri winners, qualified for the state finals by competing in a written examination. Accompanying them to the state contest will be Calvin Ehlers, instructor at the Perryville Career Center.

The Missouri contest is sponsored by the Missouri Departemtn of Education, AAA and Ford.