Project Ignition Honors 11 Leader Schools

February 19, 2010

The National Youth Leadership Council and State Farm® are proud to honor Project Ignition Leader Schools for 2010. In its sixth year, Project Ignition is a service-learning initiative that supports public high schools in developing student-led driver safety campaigns. The Leader Schools this year include:

  • Eureka High School, Eureka, CA
  • Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville, AR
  • Gibson City – Melvin Sibley High School, Gibson City, IL
  • Harry D. Jacobs High School, Algonquin, IL
  • Ionia County Intermediate School District, Ionia, MI
  • Owen Valley High School, Spencer, IN
  • Payson High School, Payson, AZ
  • Ridgemont High School, Ridgeway, OH
  • Rushville Consolidated High School, Rushville, IN
  • Yelm High School, Yelm, WA
  • Northern Secondary School, Toronto, Ontario

These schools have each earned $5,000 to travel to the National Service-Learning Conference in San Jose, Calif., March 24-27.

"Project Ignition embodies the true meaning of service-learning and how teens can have a direct impact not only on the lives of their peers, but also on the community,” said James Kielsmeier, CEO and founder of NYLC. “Teen driving behavior and habits are a major factor in teen driving crashes. Project Ignition uses service-learning as a tool for young people to educate themselves and their neighbors on the risks they face every time they get behind the wheel.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, almost 6,000 15-to 20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes in the United States in 2008. Project Ignition encourages high school students, teachers, and community leaders to work together to address teen driver safety through service-learning — a teaching method which integrates academics with hands-on projects that address pressing community issues and problems. Teams of students from more than 100 schools around the country and Canada applied to receive grants in the fall of 2009 to develop their projects. The students were charged with creating and implementing campaigns that address critical issues that research shows are critical factors in teen auto crashes and fatalities, such as lack of seat-belt use, speeding, impaired driving and distracted driving.

“Project Ignition uses service-learning to help teens create safe-driving programs they believe will impact their peers’ driving behaviors,” said Kellie Clapper, Assistant Vice President − Community Relations for State Farm. “As a company committed to reducing teen car crashes, State Farm is very interested in the projects the schools come up with. We can learn a lot from these remarkable young people.”