Congratulations to four Southern Westchester BOCES students, Cliff Linke and Alex Ocequera, both of New Rochelle High School, Addison Chavez of Port Chester High School and Jose DeJesus of Sleepy Hollow High School, for taking second place in the 2005 Greater New York Automotive Dealer's Association Regional Competition held Jan. 11 at the Daimler Chrysler Training Center in Orangeburg, N.Y.

Linke and Ocequera were entered by SWBOCES automotive technician instructor Michael Ward , and Chavez and DeJesus were entered by auto trades instructor Greg Battochi .

The competition is made up of a 75-question written exam designed to test students' basic automotive knowledge, and a hands-on component consisting of vehicle diagnostics and troubleshooting. Other local schools that competed included Saunders High School, Mount Vernon High School, Orange-Ulster BOCES and Rockland BOCES. Mr. Ward's team moved on to compete at the New York State competition, which was held Feb. 8 at the Greater New York Automotive Dealers Association headquarters in Whitestone, Queens.