Lincoln Park students win online video contest

Times photo by Lucy Schaly

MIDLAND — A high school assembly promoting safe driving habits took an unexpected turn Tuesday in Midland.

And students at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School loved it.

After all, they weren’t expecting pop star and TV actress Kate Voegele to suddenly emerge on stage, ready to sing a few songs.

“That was amazing,” said Amber Ardolino, one of four Lincoln Park juniors whose award-winning music video brought Voegele and national acclaim to their school.

Ardolino, of Beaver Falls, provides lead vocals for “Drive Safely,” an original tune with a video that won an online contest sponsored by Ford Motor Co. as part of its teen-targeted Driving Skills for Life program.

Ardolino and her musical collaborators — Trey Singletary of Aliquippa, Chalisse Monroe of Pittsburgh and Levi Keller of Mars — each won $5,000 savings bonds.

They received their oversized checks and a few hugs from Voegele at a Tuesday morning assembly as the entire school gathered for what students believed was simply a lecture on safe driving.

KDKA-TV traffic reporter Jim Lokay began the proceedings by showing a video that offered sobering facts about teens and driving.

About 7,000 teens die each year in car crashes, with risk-taking, bad judgment and inexperience usually contributing factors. The video reminded students to steer clear of distractions such as cell phones, CDs, food and, most important, their passengers. According to the video, teen drivers accompanied by one passenger are twice as likely to get into an accident. The chance is five times greater with two or more passengers.

Lincoln Park students then got to watch the “Drive Safely” music video produced by their four classmates, knowing at that point only that it was among five finalists in a national contest for which more than 100,000 online votes were cast.

The students cheered heartily as the song started with a pop-rock beat and the vocals of Ardolino and Monroe, flowing into a jazz-rock guitar solo from Keller with a hip-hop interlude from Singletary.

“If you drive safely and you follow the rules, you won’t get hurt when you’re driving to school,” is one rhyme in the song, which was written by Monroe, the Pittsburgh resident, who has plenty of time to study driving habits while taking two PAT buses and a third school bus to reach Lincoln Park each day.

That’s the kind of determination admired by Voegele, who personally picked the Lincoln Park video as the grand-prize winner, waiting for her surprise appearance at the school to announce the news.

“It’s awesome you’re in tune with how important it is to be a safe driver,” said the 23-year-old Voegele, who later that evening was to open a show in Greensburg for 2007 “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks.

“I would have killed to have gone to a school like this,” Voegele told Lincoln Park students before performing two songs off her 2009 album, “A Fine Mess,” which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Top 200. Songs from that album appeared on The CW’s “One Tree Hill,” for which Voegele plays the recurring role of aspiring singer Mia Catalano.

Before closing with her buoyant single “99 Times,” featured on Sirius-XM Satellite’s Top-40 station, Voegele reminded the youthful crowd that five years ago, she was just a “kid from Cleveland” dreaming of a showbiz career. She encouraged Lincoln Park students to pursue their dreams.

“You really can do anything with the talent you obviously have going to this school,” Voegele said.

Once the assembly ended and students were sent back to class, the four contest winners stayed on stage to pose for photos with Voegele. Ardolino was in a wheelchair, recuperating from foot surgery a day earlier.

“We worked really hard, so I’m happy,” Ardolino said.

“It’s a good feeling,” Singletary said.

Those $5,000 savings bonds will come in handy someday, though it’s extra sweet now to be crowned as champions by Voegele herself.

“She’s such a beautiful songwriter,” Ardolino said.

So what’s next for Ardolino, Singletary, Monroe and Keller, now that they’re successful music video producers?

“Tour!” Keller said.

Pictured above: Pop singer Kate Voegele hugs winner Chalisse Monroe as Levi Keller and Amber Arodolino watch Tuesday at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School. Voegele visited the school to announce that four students had won a national music-video contest sponsored by Ford Motor Co. She also sang two of her own songs for the filled theater.

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