Win $25k for your school and an iPod Wii for you!

$25,000 is free for the taking for the winner of American Family's Safe Driving Challenge.

A safe driving challenge by American Family Insurance could land Colorado schools a cool $25,000 smacks. The second and third runner ups get $10K and $5K, respectively. Participating students can walk away with a Nintendo Wii! All it takes to enter is a simple push of a computer button!

In the scheme of things an extra $25,000 might not be the lottery for a large school district. Still, a cash strapped school will certainly find a place for the funds. Better yet, for parents and teens who participate in the program, there are plenty of prizes to be won!

Here is how it works. Go to the American Family website located at http://www.teensafedriver.com/pledge and sign up. The school with the most signups as a percentage of the student body wins the big bucks! Parents can win one of the 90 iPod Shuffles or one of 200 pairs of iTune cards! Teens can win one of 14 Nintendo Wiis!

Of course, the bigfest winner is the teen that, if it were not for the program, finds himself on a country road racing at 100 miles an hour. When he wipes out he takes lives with him. Then there is the teen who avoids a deadly wreck with a drunk driver because he is practicing safe driving techniques when the drunk barrels by. American Family Insurance has found teens who take the Safe Drive Pledge, as they call it, understand how to avoid common mistakes and distractions that lead to accidents, which is the number one cause of teen driving deaths.

Several Colorado high schools are participating already. Here are the high school rankings so far:
Madison Junior High School is #1;
Jackson County Central High School is #2;
Eisenhower High School is #3;
Westminster Christian High School is #4;
Lincoln Lutheran High School is #5;
San Luis High School is #6; Forrest Lake High School is #7;
Burnsville High School is #8;
and Columbine Senior High School and William Henry Harrison High School are tied for #10.

It is not too late for losing candidates to get moving on their enrollments. High schools with non-participating student bodys have a prime opportunity to give themselves, their parents and their school a Christmas Present. Heck, why not bring a couple of laptops with Internet cards to the next student concert and sign up half the school?

Why would an attorney give you this advice? Teens in trouble can make up a fair amount of some attorney's practices. When it comes to unsafe driving and lives at stake, who would not cheer participants along? After all, attorneys are on the road with everyone else. Advocating for safe driving practices is the responsibility for everyone!

Tim Paynter is a Colorado attorney, civil rights leader, protector of the poor and disadvantaged. He can be reached at 720 951 1700.