Local student wins free car

Burlington, VT – Good grades paid off big time for one local recent high school graduate on Saturday when she won a free car on her academic merit.

The brand new Subaru Impreza was awarded by Burlington Subaru Hyundai through the dealership’s Drive for Excellence program, an annual academic incentive for high school juniors and seniors in Vermont and upstate New York.

To enter the program — now in its 17th year — students submit their grades for consideration, and the top 50 are invited to attend the prize drawing. Each of the 50 finalists have two raffle tickets for every “A” grade on their report card and one for every “B” entered into the drawing.

This year’s winner was Cadence Ovitt, who recently graduated from Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans. She said the new car will be a big help for her when she heads off to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the fall, as the drive is over 14 hours from home.

“It’s definitely just a shock, like I feel like I’m in a dream right now, but I’m just super excited it’s going to help me out a lot,” said Ovitt. “I’m just excited to drive in it.”

In addition to a new car, a few other prizes were up for grabs. Vermont Federal Credit Union, a partner of the program, awarded $1,000 scholarships to three of the other finalists to put toward future endeavors.

Cara Gorman, Burlington Subaru Hyundai’s marketing director said the program is all about giving back to the community and encouraging local students to reach their full potential.

“We just gave away our 17th new car,” Gorman noted. “I’ve been doing this for 16 years now, and it’s one of the best programs we do all year. It’s such a great opportunity for local high school students from Vermont and northern New York and we look forward to it every year.”

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