VALDOSTA – Lowndes High School sophomore Lauren Burns will be driving into summer with a new car after winning a new vehicle Monday through the LHS ‘Where There’s a Wheel There’s A Way’ program.

Began three years ago as an initiative to raise student achievement, attitude and attendance, the program has continued to grow through the support of LHS teachers and administrators and local businesses.

“Last year we had a total of 71 prizes overall, and this year, we had 160 tiered prizes,” said LHS Principal Wes Taylor. “Everything from free meal certificates to TV/DVD combos, computers, iPods, digital cameras, and of course, the highest prize being the car.”

As the announcement came before a packed gymnasium of students, many upperclassmen sat in hopes of winning a car, brought in by Griner Automotive. Although initial disappointment could be heard through the sighs of those students, as this year marks the third year that an underclassman has won the car, cheers soon followed as Burns, a varsity softball player, moved through the crowd giving high-fives to groups of students.

“From what I know of Lauren, she’s a very cool person and she’s always smiling,” said sophomore Emily Williams. “She’s just a happy person and nice to everyone, so I’m not jealous. She deserves this.”

Although grabbing a group of her friends to ‘test-sit’ in each of the three cars she had to choose from (2007 Pontiac G5, 2007 Nissan Sentra and a 2007 Nissan Verna Hatchback), Burns waited for her mother to arrive before making a final decision.

“This is my first time even hearing about it all today, and honestly I’m feeling slightly faint,” said Lauren’s mother Lori Burns by phone Monday. “This is an awesome program. It’s really wonderful what the school does for the students.”

Lauren is grateful to have been picked to win the car, which she is looking forward to driving soon.

“Here at school, I love playing varsity softball, and I’m the president-elect for Anchor Club and I’m in the Sigma Club too–a high school sorority and so I do a lot of community service projects with that,” Lauren said. “I really enjoy spending time with my friends and I’m really into my church. I love doing things with my church.”

As she waited for her mother to arrive, Lauren looked fondly at the white 4-door Nissan Sentra.

“I think it’s really pretty, but I’m going to wait and see what my mom says,” Lauren said. “Right now I have a 1995 Maxima so any new car would be nice. I just want to say thanks to our school for this. I’m grateful that they’ve given this opportunity to everyone and I’m so happy to have won.”

Since starting the program, Taylor says that he and administrators have seen an overall improvement among the student body, as qualification requirements help to encourage a positive school climate.

“The large majority of our kids are good students, but there is a small group of students that sometimes finds themselves there on the fringe. By design, this program was created in hopes of helping them stay on the right track,” said Taylor. “This program calls for accountability in academics, behavior and attendance, so it has definitely enhanced the climate of the school.”