Patterson Mill High School got involved in the State Farm insurance Company's Celebrate My Drive program to promote safe driving among students, but school administrators did not expect a bonus in the form of a $25,000 grant from the insurance company for the students' efforts to get people in the community to commit to safe driving.
"I never thought in a million years we'd win money," Principal Sean Abel said following the surprise presentation of a $25,000 check at the school Tuesday morning. "We just did it to get the idea of safe driving out to the students, and it was a good community-building activity as well."
State Farm representatives presented the check to Abel and the students, who were involved in signing people up for safe-driving commitments, in the school's television studio. The presentation was broadcast on the school's TV network.
Bryan Michaels, a State Farm agent and parent of two Patterson Mill High students, presented the oversized check.
"You qualify for $25,000," Michaels said. "Congratulations, students."
Patterson Mill is one of nearly 3,300 high schools across the country that participated in State Farm's Celebrate My Drive, and it is one of 100 schools that qualified for the $25,000 grant, according to a news release.
Abel said the money will be used to promote safe-driving initiatives and to beautify the building and grounds of Patterson Mill Middle and High School.
He said potential beautification projects include landscaping, security improvements in locker rooms and artwork posted outside the building.
"We have a committee of teachers, parents and students that are going to be working on specifics," Abel explained.
Abel said about 20 students made up the core group of those promoting Celebrate My Drive. They used the program's slogan 2N2, or "two hands on the wheel and two eyes on the road."
Students handed out fliers at local businesses, put their message on social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram and made pitches at athletic events and pep rallies.
The promotion took place between Oct. 16 and Oct. 24. Anyone in the community, not just students, could sign up online and commit to 10 days of safe driving, according to student organizers.
"At halftime, we would ask people to take out their cell phones and commit," sophomore Kaitlyn Iwanowski, 15, said.
Kaitlyn said the students' efforts attracted a lot of support from members of the community.
"They wanted our school to win, because they saw how excited and committed we were about it," she recalled.
Her classmate, Baylee Burton, also a 15-year-old sophomore, said the students were taken by surprise by the news they had won the grant.
"I was excited that we won," she said. "I didn't know at all."
Both girls, who are not yet old enough to drive, said they would take the lessons they learned from the campaign when they get behind the wheel, especially not to text and drive.
Bryan Michaels, who lives in Bel Air, and his wife, Tammy, served as co-chairs of the school committee, which was made up of students and supported by parents.
Their sons, Brett, a 17-year-old senior, and Alec, a 15-year-old sophomore, were members of the committee.
Their 11-year-old daughter, Caroline, is in the sixth grade at Patterson Mill Middle School, and she also helped promote Celebrate My Drive.
"I was pretty surprised, because we're pretty small for some of the schools we were competing against, so it was a pretty big honor to win," Alec said.
There are about 830 students at Patterson Mill High School, according to Abel. The school competed among schools with 750 students or more, which meant they were going against some schools with thousands of students.
Bryan Michaels said each State Farm agent can bring the program to a school in his or her community.
He noted that safe driving also helps lower auto insurance rates.
"Most accidents are absolutely avoidable," Michaels said.
Tammy Michaels said student reception "was slow in the beginning, but once the kids realize the importance of the message they were more receptive to get in and commit to safe driving."
She noted Brett has his driver's license, and he is able to take passengers with him since he has had his license for at least six months, "and Alec is right behind."