'Leave An Impact:' Inola High School Wins Thousands After Being Named Finalist In Nationwide Contest

T-Mobile gave Inola High School $30,000 to upgrade its football field and workout equipment after the school beat out thousands of other schools across the country.

If they get enough votes, Inola could win even more money, specifically $2 million

Hundreds of people were decked out in pink Friday night to support the contest, and they say they’re crossing their fingers Inola takes home that prize.

What started as someone seeing a poster in a T-Mobile store could win with Inola High School getting a $2 million prize.

“Nobody knew how much support this would get starting off; none of us really expected it,” said Rylee Scullawl, a Senior at Inola High School. “So it’s super cool to see everyone come together. How many likes the video has, being in second place, is crazy.”

Inola advanced to the final stage of the contest and already got a $30,000 prize to go towards upgrading the athletic facilities, which are used by both students and the community.

“This would just be amazing to update everything around here,” said Taylor Cook, a Senior at Inola High School. “A new football field, a new scoreboard. There’s plenty of things that needs updated. This grant would just be amazing for our school system.”

Deleea Meeker, the Student Council Advisor for Inola High School, helped get the school into the contest. She says she’s proud of all the hard work the students have put in, and hopes it also teaches them a lesson you can’t learn in a classroom.

“Take opportunities that come to them, even if it doesn’t seem like it might be possible or if it doesn’t seem like something that could happen,” said Meeker. “Take it up and do it, and see where it goes.”

The students hope this contest will leave a lasting mark on Inola even after they graduate.

“It would be amazing to leave an impact on all the generations that are up and coming and just affect every sport that uses this field,” said Cook. “And just really support Inola schools.”

All you have to do to vote for Inola is like the video pinned to the school’s Instagram page.

You can find a link to that here.