On March 13th Liberty High School had the opportunity to do a small engine competition to demonstrate their knowledge with a written test with 20 questions. Also to display their practical skills by troubleshooting an engine to determine specific malfunctions and adjust the engine to operate properly. The competition is held at Fauquier High School after school hours. A chosen student at Fauquier and a chosen student from Liberty was junior Dylan Scott. They competed against each other.

  The written test was part 1 with a time limit of 40 minutes. All the kids that were competing took it before the hands-on part. Part two is the engine troubleshooting and the maximum time limit is 1 hour. There were different rules for the competition, the main ones where you had to wear glasses during the competition that they provided there and proper clothes which consisted of a shirt and jeans and close-toed shoes. If you don’t have these things you get points taken off or even lose.  They gave you a list of tools you should bring or could need, and the students had to pick the tools they thought they needed.

 After many years of not winning, Liberty High School won the small engine competition. Junior and 3rd place winner Dylan Scott and a couple of other FFA members took a trip to another competition on Friday 22nd during school hours at Laurel Ridge in Winchester with four other kids from different schools where Scott won 3rd place. They had to do the same thing but this engine would be more complicated to figure out “ It was a really fun experience and loved being able to get the experience of being a part of the small engine competition and being the first to win after a couple of years of liberty not winning,” said junior, Dylan Scott.