Contributed photo/Shelby High School Principal Zach Fricke, Oceana County Sheriff’s Deputy and Shelby School Resource Officer Tim Simon and SHS senior Bryn Adams stand next to the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu that she won through the school’s first-ever Ride with Pride program.
WSCC News is a presentation of West Shore Community College in partnership with Mason County Press and Oceana County Press.
By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
SHELBY — Shelby High School senior Bryn Adams recently won a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu through the Ride With Pride program.
Meyers Chevrolet in New Era procured the car and donated toward its purchase, along with other donors. Several area businesses also donated prizes.
“We had several donors in this community foundation account where they donated $1,000 a year for three years,” said Oceana County Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Simon, who is Shelby’s school resource officer. Simon and Principal Zach Fricke launched the Ride with Pride program at Shelby High School. “We started working on it in February of 2024.”
In addition to the car, prizes included a fishing charter, pontoon boat rentals, TVs, AirPods and more.
“Zach Fricke was very instrumental in getting this together with all the organizations. He also got a grant that helped with some of the prizes.”
The Norton Shores Police Department began the Ride with Pride program at Mona Shores High School, and it branched out to other schools. The late Troy Moran, who was Hart High School’s principal, began the Ride with Pride program at Hart High School in 2023 and also launched it at Montague High School when he was principal there before working in Hart. Hart High School’s Troy Moran Ride with Pirate Pride program also gave away a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu.
This year is the first year that Shelby High School has offered the program, and Deputy/SRO Simon said it’s been a great success.
Students sign a pledge to abstain from unhealthy and unsafe behaviors, like drinking alcohol, using drugs, drinking and driving and distracted driving, to not only make safe and healthy lifestyle decisions but also for a chance to win the car. The field was narrowed down to five finalists and then ultimately the lucky winner Bryn Adams was randomly selected.
“This program is really great. It is not just about our students making the correct choices at school, but also the correct choices about alcohol and drugs — making the correct choices in life and also when they’re out on the road driving. It’s committing to a pledge to make the right choices in the students’ lives. It holds the student to a standard.”
The pledges have a positive ripple effect on students’ behavior in and out of school, Simon said. Behavioral referrals at the school have dropped dramatically from 469 in the 2023-24 school year to 157 this year, said SHS Dean of Students Geoffrey Kies.
“We’re very proud of those behavioral referrals,” said Simon. “We’re going to make it bigger and better and keep improving it from year to year.”
________________________
Please Support Local News
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
Payment can be made monthly via credit card, bank account, PayPal or Venmo through recurring email invoicing. These payments can be set up for autopay each month.
To sign up, email editor@mediagroup31.com. In the subject line write: Subscription. Please supply your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number (indicate cell phone). We will not share your information with any outside sources. For more than one email address in a household, the cost is $15 per month per email address.
Alternative methods:
- We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
Payment must be made in advance prior to subscription activation.
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2025, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
.png)
