Submitted photo/Zoily Sarabia tests out her new car.
By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
Pirate News is a presentation of Hart Public Schools in partnership with Oceana County Press.
HART — Hart High School sophomore Zoily Sarabia recently won the Troy Moran Ride with the Pirate Pride car.
The 2015 Chevrolet Malibu was procured by Greg Fleming of Affordable Auto in Shelby, said Det. Sgt. Kevin Skipski of the Hart Police Department, who is the Hart school district’s school resource officer. “They took about $2,000 off the list price. He was very gracious about it.”
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 in 2023 and also launched it at Montague High School when he was principal there before working in Hart. Shelby High School launched a Ride with Pride program this year.
“We started running with it and got it off the ground,” said Skipski.
Tragically, Moran died of a heart attack just prior to last year’s event, and the event was named the Troy Moran Ride with Pirate Pride in his memory.
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 finalists, and then ultimately the lucky winner Zoily Sarabia was randomly selected. A total of 220 Hart students took the pledge this year.
“It’s such a tribute to Troy — he’s the one who brought it here. We need to continue to have this tradition in his name. The students loved it. They were very excited about the event and that it was still going and that it was a tribute to Troy. It’s a great program for kids to do their best in school.
“There were a ton of donors — a whole list of businesses that gave us donations.” Another significant donor was John Heykoop of Eagle Towing who donated $2,000 toward the purchase of the car, he said.
“A tribute to Troy is really what this is all about. It’s always going to be that way.”
________________________
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)
