By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Clanton Intermediate School received a check for nearly $5,000 from Baugh Ford and Ford Motor Company as a part of the Ford Drive 4 UR School program on Jan. 9.

Parents and staff had earned the funds by test driving vehicles during the event on Oct. 14.

“It was marvelous,” Principal Louise Pitts said. “We have a lot of parents that came out that day to help raise money, and you couldn’t ask for anybody better to work with than the employees here at Baugh Ford.”

Many took multiple test drives as they saw other models they wanted to try out.

For each person that took a test drive, Ford made a donation to the school. All together the event raised $4,940.

Tommie L. Baugh III of Baugh Ford notified Pitts over the school’s Christmas break of the amount that had been raised.

“I was just ecstatic,” Pitts said.

Pitts said the funds will be used to purchase Chromebooks to give students more access to educational resources, such as RelfexMath, Read Works, Accelerated Math and Accelerated Reader.

This will give the school enough Chromebooks for another cart, bringing the total in the school to nine.

“We appreciated Baugh Ford giving us this chance and this opportunity to raise money for the students at Clanton Intermediate School,” Pitts said.

Baugh said the dealership has hosted several Ford Drive 4 UR School events in the past, and the CIS event had the second highest participation out of all the Chilton County schools that have participated.

“I have a 10-year-old daughter, and I like to make sure she has what she needs at school,” Baugh said. “I like to see the schools have what they need.”

The events also help parents and teachers know about the dealership and the selection it has.  Baugh emphasized “shopping local puts more money back into their school.”

Ford Motor Company started the Drive 4 UR School a few years ago, and it has been a “great success for all communities,” Baugh said.