Freedom High School is hoping to again win a $100,000 State Farm Insurance grant, but the Bethlehem Township, Pa., school needs your votes. <\/p>\n
Last year, Freedom was the regional winner in the inaugural \"Celebrate My Drive\" contest thanks to a coordinated social media campaign. <\/p>\n
But the grand prize of a free Kelly Clarkson concert for a small and a large school has heated up the competition this year. Freedom has already netted more votes than last year but, as of this afternoon, the school is fighting to stay in the top 50 of the large school competition. <\/p>\n
Not far behind are Parkland High School at 59 and Pen Argyl Area High School at 60. Voting started Friday and remains open until Saturday. <\/p>\n
While the grand prize is a Kelly Clarkson concert, Freedom students are more interested in the grants, said Jennifer Wescoe, school adviser to the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter vying for the grant. <\/p>\n
State Farm is dishing out 10 $100,000 grants and 90 $25,000 grants to schools that win the competition. The competition launched in 2012 as a means of celebrating the teenage rite of passage of that first driver's license while promoting safe driving, said Dave Phillips, with State Farm media relations in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. <\/p>\n
Car crashes remain the No. 1 killer of teens in North America, but research has shown that positive messages about safe driving stick with teens longer than negative ones, such as mock car crashes, Phillips said. <\/p>\n
\"The first year behind the wheel on the road is the most dangerous,\" he said. <\/p>\n
Freedom students have joined State Farm at events through the year, using students as spokespeople and using a YouTube video students made, Phillips said. <\/p>\n
Freedom students crafted an ambitious list of projects to pursue if they won the 2012 grant and they followed through on every one of them, said Wescoe, who is also the school's theater director. The money was shared with the entire district through various events. <\/p>\n
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Freedom High School needs your vote for $100,000 grant<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Freedom High School is hoping to again win a $100,000 State Farm Insurance grant, but the Bethlehem Township, Pa., school needs your votes. Last year, Freedom was the regional winner in the inaugural \"Celebrate My Drive\" contest thanks to a coordinated social media campaign. But the grand prize of a free Kelly Clarkson concert for a small and a large school has heated up the competition this year. Continue reading