PCSC girls race to victory at tech competition

Pierce County Skills Center

Automotive Instructor Rob Anderson has seen a lot during his decades in the classroom and the garage, but this year he experienced something new – and he’s calling it the pinnacle of his storied career.

The fact that two Pierce County Skills Center students took home first place at the prestigious Universal Technical Institute Top Tech Competition was exciting, but what made the victory truly historic was that the winning team was made up of two girls. It was the first time in the history of the competition that an all-girls team took the top prize.

The team was made up of Amber Charles of Bethel High and Hannah Flanery of Graham-Kapowsin High. Both girls said they were excited and nervous prior to the competition.

“It was super intimidating, because you walk in and it’s mostly guy teams. They just looked intimidating,” Amber said. “They looked like they knew what they were doing and we had a lot of hard competition to beat.”

When all was said and done, Amber and Hannah felt good about their chances of placing, but didn’t know where they might end up.

To make the win even sweeter, the girls got a special gift from halfway around the world. Anderson has a friend who teaches a similar tech program in Italy, and he learned that the Italian girls were feeling dejected and thinking about quitting the program. Anderson’s friend told his class about Hannah and Amber and how they beat all the boys, and it inspired the Italian girls to continue in their program. As a thank you, the Italian girls sent Hannah and Amber a letter and several gifts.

It all came as a big surprise to Hannah and Amber.

“To have two females come in and go into a male dominated thing like this and win, it’s the top of my career, really. I don’t think I’ll ever beat that,” Anderson said.

“When they called first place, both of our jaws dropped to the ground. We jumped up, just so excited. It was unbelievable,” Hannah said.

“We didn’t think it would spread around the world and inspire other girls. It made both of us that much more proud of ourselves for the hard work we’ve shown,” Amber said.