Student wins car by reading
Victoria Cornejo, 16, a sophomore at Sparks High School, poses next to a 1997 vehicle she just won for taking park in Read for the Ride program.
Sparks resident Lilia Cornejo received a surprise from her daughter Thursday.
“Mom, you’re not going to believe this, I won a car,” said Victoria Cornejo, 16, of Sparks, speaking Spanish.
“A what?” Lilia Cornejo said.
“A car!” Victoria Cornejo said. “I’m not messing with you.”
The Sparks High School sophomore was calling her mother minutes after she won a green 1997 Dodge Intrepid through the 10th annual Read for the Ride raffle. Through the reading program, raffle tickets were distributed throughout the school year for a chance to win several prizes that included computers, certificates, an iPod and a car. Tickets were obtained through reading various books.
“I’m so happy,” said Victoria’s father, Noberto Cornejo, 51, of Sparks, speaking Spanish. “I told my wife it wasn’t true. I thought she had messed up in her classes.”
Sparks’ Literacy Coordinator Patti McClelland said the program serves as a huge motivator for students to read.
“Typically, any 16-year-old would want to have a car,” said McClelland, who added that Victoria Cornejo’s ticket was chosen out of more than 1,000. “I mean, you can’t really get around in this city without a car very easily.”
This article appeared originally in Reno Gazette-Journal.
