A Montrose High School student is the winner of a $10,000 award for committing to safe driving. Freshman Nick Paulsen won $10,000 for himself and an additional $10,000 for his school.
To enter, Paulsen answered questions about safe driving habits he learned in the annual Lesson Learned South Dakota program. 34 Montrose students participated in the contest out of more than 3,000 entries.
Lonny Johnson is the superintendent for Montrose High School. He said participation in the program was encouraged by a math teacher.
“This was just kind of their attention getter," Johnson said. "I think they’re going to be more adept to pay more attention to what these quizzes are what these lessons are teaching them and having somebody else give them that information and another source of how to be safe out in vehicles.”
Johnson said Paulsen has a say in how the school's award money is spent. Johnson is looking at funding programs designed to foster community in the high school.
