Winners Selected for Scholarship Award!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the second of the three scholarship contests for the year 2024. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to write, research, and share intimate stories about the importance of driver education.

Some essay submissions dealt with being involved in a motor vehicle accident and the tragic aftermath. Others, sadly, even deal with the loss of life due to a motor vehicle crash. Sharing your story could save a life by introducing how grave the consequences of driver distraction can be. We applaud you for taking the issue seriously enough to educate others about it.

The quality of the submissions this year was as great as ever. We received over 1,000 essays for this round, many with the assistance of AI technology, making our task of selecting a winner much more difficult. We truly wish we could award every participant for their efforts. There were so many well-written and researched papers dealing with the importance of driver education. We truly enjoyed reading the submissions and will continue to share your stories, thoughts, and suggestions on what we can do to save lives and ensure the safety of all those who share our roadways.

Now, let's announce the winners of this round. The most shared essay, with 259 votes, is Certified Drivers, Safer Roads: The Case for Mandatory Driver Education by Jenna Goedken. Jenna's essay is a well thought out and well-written essay detailing the benefits of drivers education, primarily when taught by certified teachers. Great job, Jenna!

Selecting the winner for staff favorite was difficult, as it always is. Each staff member selected their favorite, and the winning essay was randomly chosen from the staff favorites. It was the only way to pick our favorite, as there were so many great submissions. For staff favorite, The Ripple Effects of Distracted Driving: A Family Journey Through Tragedy by Thomas Coyne. Thomas's essay is a first-hand account of the devastation that occurs after one has been involved in a major accident. It is an eye-opening account of how an accident not only seriously impacts the lives of those involved in the accident but also close family members who have to make real sacrifices to care for their loved ones. Thank you for sharing your story, Thomas.

We also have a few honorable mentions, each awarded a prize of three hundred fifty dollars. These are The Roads We Share  by Olivia Best, The Roads of 2016 by Ariel Estime,  Thoughts on Driving by Joel Aaron Longnecker, Eyes on the Road by Paige German, Help Someone, Even if it is Just One by Cassidy Garibaldo, A $50 Economics Tradeoff: Making Safe Choices Affordable for Students by Minh Nguyen, and And My Life Has Never Been The Same by Michael Justin Lindsay. Great job everyone!

We wish we could award every participant, as reading your essays was a true pleasure. We say this every year, but it bears repeating. Ideally, there would be no need for scholarship contests, and every citizen would be assured a free college education. As you know, a high school degree does not go too far these days, and to limit one’s access to a good education and God-given potential because of a lack of resources is truly unjust when we have the means to provide otherwise.

So, it is also up to you to declare that you wish for a college education to be granted as a right for all and not just an option for some. You all will soon be or are now of voting age, and your views can be put into law to bring about a better future for your generation and generations to come. I do hope you will get involved in bringing about this change. Bless you all. Thanks again to all participants.