Local High School Works to Change Peers' Behaviors for Safer Driving
Baton Rouge, LA, June 7, 2012 - A Grambling Lab h School safety campaign has been selected through a national competition as one of this year’s Top Ten “Project Ignition” auto safety campaigns from across the United States and Canada. Project Ignition is a service-learning program sponsored by State Farm® and coordinated by the National Youth Leadership Council®, based in St. Paul, MN.
The focus of the program is to involve student-led teams in developing driving and auto travel safety campaigns in their schools and local communities.
As a top ten campaign winner, Grambling Lab’s Project Ignition team will receive $5,000 to support their participation in the National Service-Learning Conference® in the spring of 2013 in Denver, CO. They are also eligible for a $2,500 grant to implement a year-long project during the 2012-2013 school-year.
In the fall of 2011, students at Grambling Lab High School teamed with Engineering and Criminal Justice majors at Grambling State University to work to reduce risky driving behaviors that lead to motor vehicle crashes, the number one killer of teens. Earlier this year, Grambling Labwas awarded a $2,000 Project Ignition grant to implement their “Youth in Action/ Community Initiative Squads” Safe Driving Project. Now, additional funds are coming to the school because of its designation as a Top Ten “Leader School”.
“We are pleased to congratulate Ponchatoula High Schoolon this great accomplishment,” said State Farm spokesman, Gary Stephenson. “It is exciting to see students like these who, through Project Ignition efforts, join us in promoting teen driver safety. It’s an important message that needs to be heard and understood.”
These campaigns serve as models for other schools looking to apply for a Project Ignition grant in the 2012-2013 school year. More details about the coming school year’s grant opportunities will be available in August, 2012. One other school in Louisiana, Grambling University Lab High School, was a top ten leader school designee this year.
For more information visit: www.sfprojectignition.com
Gary Stephenson, Public Affairs Specialist, (501) 615-6004.
State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts - more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 43 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http://www.statefarm.ca.
