West Lawn student wins laptop

On Tuesday, it was two times lucky for fourth-grader Aric Montgomery and for West Lawn Elementary.

First, it was lucky that the Hy-Vee Store in Grand Island was picked to be one of the locations to give out awards for the company's "Smiles for Education" program.

Store director John Griesenbrock said not every Hy-Vee location gets to hand out awards for the annual program. "It's the luck of the draw," he said.

Griesenbrock said that it was also the luck of the draw that Montgomery's name was drawn from literally thousands of names that were entered into the contest.

During the 10 weeks the program runs, people can slide names into the drop box at each store, he said. Griesenbrock told the students during an all-school assembly that it's ordinarily not kids who are putting their names in the drop box.

"It's usually moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas, and aunts and uncles," he said.

As a result, Aric's name was mixed in with students not only from Grand Island, but from schools and towns all over Central Nebraska.

The double dose of luck became apparent to everyone at West Lawn Elementary when students were gathered in the gym. There, they saw Aric presented with a Macbook laptop computer and Principal Jane Gloor presented a $5,000 check for the school.

Both occasions were met with cheers and applause.

Gloor told her students that she only found out about the Hy-Vee award on Monday. As a result, the principal said, she had not yet had time to decide how the money would be used. But Gloor promised it would be spent for something that would help all West Lawn students learn.

As for Aric, he said he already has a computer at home. But that doesn't mean he doesn't appreciate getting a laptop. His parents, Lisa and Scott Montgomery, said Aric gets to use laptops at school, so he'll enjoy using one at home.

His mom said one of Aric's favorite activities is getting on the school Web site.

Griesenbrock said Hy-Vee has stores in 224 communities. As a company, Hy-Vee has presented $600,000 in money and computers through the program.

He said all Hy-Vee stores participate in the program during the early part of the school year. This year, it is running from Aug. 27 to Oct. 29. Each week, 10 students and schools are selected, so there are 100 winning students and 100 winning schools at the end of 10 weeks.