And the Last Shall Be First

Operation Click, the renamed high school seatbelt use encouragement program, gave its new Crystal Lake Pontiac to Kate McNamee.

Seven Crystal Lake High School District 155 students were in contention.

Two each were from the three Crystal Lake high schools because they achieved over a 95% seat belt compliance rate.

Cary-Grove High School, the newest school in the program reached 93.5%, not high enough to have two entrants in the lottery for a new Pontiac.

It was represented by only one contestant, called “finalists”—Kate McNamee.

As the six high school students took the key they had gotten and tried to start the car, each was disappointed.

Sean McGrath, the President of the group announced that this was the first time the ceremony “had gotten this far,” as the third or fourth teen unsuccessfully turned the key.

When the sixth Crystal Laker had failed to start the car, the Cary-Grove girl knew she had won.

You can see it in her face.

Afterwards most of the other photographers got pictures of the winner’s back. I got this one of her looking right at the camera.

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Click to enlarge the photographs. All center on Cary-Grove High School student Kate McNamee. In the top one, she realizes that she has won because the keys of the other six finalists did not start the car. The enlargement is from that picture. It’s fuzzy and poorly lit because of the low light levels in the Holiday Inn’s ballroom. At the bottom, she hugs Crystal Lake Pontiac dealer Sam Oginni.


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