Four area students are in the running for a free car.

Three Oakdale Joint Unified School District students and one student from the Riverbank Unified School District have been named among the 50 finalists in the Stanislaus County Office of Education, SCOE, eligibility program to win a 2024 Toyota Corolla.

Nathen Bedwell of East Stanislaus High, along with Mary Casas and Tenzing Rangel of Oakdale High School and Amanda Vazquez of Riverbank High School are the local finalists.

The students were saluted for their school attendance during a recognition event held at Modesto Toyota on Tuesday, May 14. During that event students submitted their names for the final drawing to win the car donated by Modesto Toyota.

SCOE and Modesto Toyota representatives will draw the winning name and surprise a student at their high school with the car on Friday, May 17.

To be entered into the contest, a student must have had at least one month of perfect attendance to be eligible. Each month of perfect attendance earned an additional opportunity for entry into the contest. School districts entered student names and held drawings at their schools in April, submitting the allotted number of qualified students as finalists to SCOE on April 19.

Last August, SCOE and all 25 school districts, embarked on a countywide attendance campaign emphasizing the importance of attending school daily.

“School attendance is serious issue - one that concerns educators and should concern all of us,” said Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools Scott Kuykendall. “We applaud Modesto Toyota for recognizing the importance of school attendance and partnering with us. An opportunity to win a new car encourages and motivates high school students to prioritize attending school daily.”