Dallas, TX, October 12, 2012 - Officials with State Farm® have announced that Red Oak High School, Red Oak TX, has won a $100,000 grant in connection with the insurer’s "Celebrate My Drive" teen driver program.
Red Oak HS is one of 14 schools across the U.S. and Canada that were most involved in State Farm’s Celebrate My Drive initiative in September. The presentation will occur before the ROHS student body and local officials at the Red Oak school gymnasium at a pep rally, Friday, October 12, at 3:30pm.
On September 15th, high school officials, safety advocates, and local law enforcement joined with more than 1,400 State Farm agents and tens of thousands of teens and parents for a celebration for this year’s new teen drivers. The event took a different approach to teen driving safety by sharing positive driving habits rather than some more traditional approaches that often scare new drivers, but may have only a limited influence.
About the grant, Superintendent Scott Niven of Red Oak ISD said, "As always, the safety of our students is our most important priority. Participating in State Farm’s Celebrate My Drive initiative was a no brainer. We are so thrilled about this amazing gift from State Farm. Our kids and parents worked hard to cast so many votes, and they will see the positive impact this grant will have in classrooms across the district."
State Farm Vice President Agency in the Dallas area, Janine Chapa, said, "We were very pleased to see so many area high schools getting involved in Celebrate My Drive, and especially proud to see Red Oak High School put forth a winning effort in getting involved to promote teen driving safety awareness. We see this as a beginning for an even greater effort to help keep their new drivers safe as they explore the road ahead."
State Farm celebrated new drivers at more than 400 Celebrate My Drive events organized in communities large and small – making it North America’s largest-ever simultaneous gathering of new teen drivers. As part of this program, State Farm awarded 14 participating schools each a grant of $100,000. The winning schools were chosen based on an online voting process that took place during the six days leading up to September 15. Schools will use the grants to fund key safety projects and other needs that they determine.
The grant announcement comes on the eve of National Teen Driver Safety Week, Oct 14 – 20. The national observance was passed by a resolution in Congress in 2007. Safety officials report that the number of teen crashes and rate of fatalities has decreased in recent years, but crashes still remain the leading cause of death for teens in America.
State Farm agents Andrea Walton and Danny Humphreys serve the Red Oak area.
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.
