Car dealer gives money to schools

Lawrence car dealer Dale Willey donated $1,500 to the Lawrence Schools Foundation for materials, tools and equipment associated with the district’s automotive vo-tech program.

Willey, chairman of Dale Willey Automotive at 2840 Iowa, said Lawrence High School was a business partner and that he had worked closely for several years with David Tenpenny, an industrial technology teacher at LHS.

“The automotive vo-tech program at LHS, as directed by Tenpenny, is a most successful one,” Willey said.

Lawrence Schools Foundation executive director Susan Hazlett said the auto vo-tech program was popular with students. She said the foundation was pleased with Willey’s support of the program.

Driver’s license numbers to change

The days of choosing your driver’s license number are about to change.

Kansans can no longer use Social Security numbers as a driver’s license or Kansas ID number. The Kansas Department of Revenue made the change Thursday.

Those applying for a license will still be required to provide the Social Security number to the department for its records, but it will not appear on the actual identification card.

Those who are using the Social Security number as the driver’s license or ID card number will not need to change the number until the time of their next application, when a system-generated number will be issued.

The department also will no longer accept Individual Taxpayer Identification numbers in place of a Social Security numbers. Those without Social Security numbers instead will need to sign an affidavit.

Kids Voting Kansas receives $10,000 grant

A statewide program that teaches schoolchildren the importance of voting is getting a monetary boost from Cox Communications.

Kids Voting Kansas received a $10,000 grant from Cox Communication for its grass-roots, nonpartisan effort.

The mission of Kids Voting Kansas is to increase lifelong voter participation by educating Kansas elementary and secondary students and involving them in the voting process.

Following classroom instructions about the rights, responsibilities and mechanics of voting, students in grades K-12 actually go to the polls on Election Day and “vote” alongside their parents or guardians. The result is an increase in voter education and participation by voters of all ages.

Kids Voting began in the Lawrence school district in 1992 as a pilot project for the program that went statewide a few years later.

The Journal-World has been a cosponsor of the Kids Voting effort in Lawrence since its inception.