Impacting Education

Project Ignition Is About Teens And Communities Standing Up For Safer, Smarter Driving.

Through Project Ignition, high school students team up with teachers to create effective teen driver safety campaigns in their schools and communities. This annual service-learning grant program is sponsored by State Farm® and coordinated by the National Youth Leadership Council® (NYLC).

Each year, we are more and more amazed by the teen driver safety campaigns that students develop and the measurable difference they make in their schools, their communities and beyond. The impact is profound. The experiences are emotional. The lessons are unforgettable.

Meet the Top 25 Schools for 2011-12

We are proud to announce our Top 25 Project Ignition Schools for 2011-12. These schools each received a$2,000 to support their teen driver safety campaigns and competed to be named as one of 10 "Project Ignition National Leader Schools." These 10 best campaigns of the 25 then have the opportunity to receive additional funding to support their participation in a national conference or event and go deeper with their campaigns during the 2012-2013 school year.

Meet the Top 10 Schools for 2012-13

We are proud to announce our Top 10 Project Ignition Schools for 2012-13. These schools led outstanding campaigns designed to reduce risky driving attitudes and behaviors. They will receive $5,000 to support their participation in the National Service-Learning Conference® in the in Denver, CO in March, 2013. After the approval of their plans for the 2012-13 school year, they will receive an additional $2500 to continue their teen driver safety campaigns through May, 2013.

How does Project Ignition work?

During the fall semester, students and their teachers or advisors who want to participate apply for a Project Ignition grant. They describe the safe driving issue they plan to tackle (such as distracted driving, seat belt use, speeding, or impaired driving) and the strategies they will use to get teens to change what they know, believe, or do about that issue.
In December, Project Ignition selects 25 schools to receive a $2,000 grant to implement their ideas. The following school year, Project Ignition will honor 10 of the 25 as “leader schools” and give them $2,500 to expand safe driving initiatives, and an additional $5,000 to support them in presenting their work at the National Service-Learning Conference in the spring.