Westwood Schools Among Many in State Competing in Kohl's Cares Contest

While Westwood residents may have seen commercials on television about the Kohl's Cares Program, many may not realize that it could inadvertently benefit the Westwood Public School system.

Kohl's is giving $500,000 to 20 schools, totaling in grants of $10,000,000 to schools around the country.

The Kohl's Cares contest is a competition hosted by Facebook and Kohl's that is won based on votes. The contest is in celebration of Kohl's 1oth anniversary.

There are 20 votes per person, and you can vote up to five times for each school of choice. The 20 schools with the most votes by September 3 will win $500,000. Votes can be registered at Facebook.com/kohls.

With September 3 right around the corner, some schools around the nation are really picking up speed. Others, not so much. Westwood High School currently has 31 votes, compared top school Silverstein Hebrew Academy in Great Neck, NY, which has 77,859 votes. Each of Westwood's other schools have five votes.

By local comparison, Medfield High School currently has 34 votes, Dedham has 22 and Norwood has 48. Some have gotten into it a bit more, with Walpole checking in at 242 votes.

Heath Petracca, Westwood Public Schools' Director of Business and Finance, said that he had heard about the program but did not think the school was heavily involved at this point.

"It would definitely be nice to win a half a million dollars," said Petracca. "That's a good amount to work with."

There are thousands of schools around the country involved in this contest. And while Westwood and many local schools around the area may not have much of a shot at winning, some schools are making a push by using social networking sites, like Facebook.

As reported by Milton Patch, Milton High School is vying for the $500,000 award from the Kohl's Cares program in an effort to eliminate all athletic fees at the school.

Due to a tight budget in 2009, Milton High School almost had to eliminate sports all together. $50,000 was raised to save the season, which didn't even cover the programs entirely. Athletes must pay $250 per sport and $500 for ice hockey.

If Milton wins, the grant would make all sports free to students for four years. The school wants to make use of this time to have fundraising that could be done to make the lack of fees permanent.

In an effort to get votes, Milton High School has created a Facebook page. According to Milton Public Schools grant writer Chris Masalsky, the page will be used to send updates and profile the athletes, teams and coaches who will benefit from the award. Milton High School currently has 243 votes.