SYCAMORE – After learning many of her peers were cutting corners during their driver's education instruction, a Sycamore teen hatched an idea to make sure both they got the practice they deserved and, in the process, she earned a $750 scholarship from a Chicago law firm.
Sarah Klumpp, a senior at Sycamore High School, won the scholarship for her idea to create a dedicated stop watch to track how many hours teens drive supervised before receiving their license. She'd heard from other students that, sometimes, parents would just sign off on the hours and the Secretary of State's Office rarely checked the hours anyway.
"When I started driving I always worried about the things that could happen," she said. "My parents always said practice was the way to help."
When she learned about the scholarship contest offered by the Chicago law firm Salvi, Schostok and Pritchard that asked students to submit a video testimony explaining what laws they would like to see to make Illinois roads safer, Klumpp knew her submission.
"I had thought about it recently. It was a relevant thing in my life," she said.
In the video, said there are countless teens driving with little experience.
"Although they may be getting away with it at the DMV, statistically the mistake follows them," she said in the video.
So to ensure that student drivers log the requisite 50 hours before they can get their license, Klumpp proposed a state-approved stopwatch that would log only time driven and could be handed over to state workers when students come in for their final test.
Rather than carry around a sheet of paper, that may or may not be accurate anyway, Klumpp said the stopwatch would be engaged when practicing and then hours logged into a student account. When the teen goes into take their final test, turn in paperwork, and receive their license, the workers at the office could quickly verify the hours logged.
The scholarship winners were decided by voting, Klumpp said, and at first she wasn't really concerned with the popularity contest. But, after she saw she was close to the lead, she started a social media campaign to get there, mostly through Snapchat.
"Everyone has Snapchat," she said. She learned Friday that she had won first prize.
She planned on using the scholarship money to purchase a new computer for school. She is still deciding between several schools, and has been accepted to four already. Her plan is to major in English with an eye to pre-law.