One Plant City-area graduate is starting post-high school life in the fast lane.
Strawberry Crest High School graduating senior Jose Sanchez-Flores won a brand new 2014 Scion XB car, when he drew the winning car key during the fourth annual Toyota of Tampa Bay New Car Giveaway June 14.
Sanchez-Flores, 19, who is headed to the Hillsborough Community College in the fall, was the 10th name drawn. More than 350 recently graduated students who attended school each day of either the first or second semester of their senior year were eligible for a chance to select a car key from a fishbowl and see if that key opened the door and fit the ignition of the black cherry 2014 Scion XB.
The eligible students, their parents, and friends filled sets of bleachers on the Toyota of Tampa Bay car lot on Fletcher Avenue. There were 12 keys in all. Before Sanchez-Flores picked the winning key, nine hopeful students had a chance. One by one, they tried a key in the door. But only Sanchez-Flores’s key fit the door.
Sanchez-Flores, who came to the United States in 2009, from El Salvador, said he has never owned a car. Speaking while surrounded by television cameras and well-wishers, Jose said the last time he missed a day of school was more than two years ago.
The event, sponsored by Toyota of Tampa Bay, was an incentive for students to faithfully attend school.
“This is such a great event; we can’t say enough about Toyota of Tampa Bay,” said Hillsborough School Superintendent MaryEllen Elia, who joined School Board members Candy Olson and Cindy Stuart on stage at the event. “We do so many things to improve attendance at school, and ‘senioritis’ can be a serious problem. The New Car Giveaway is a wonderful incentive.”