Santapogue Elementary School in the West Babylon School District won a $5,000 grant from Sprint recently. The money from the 2008 Sprint Ahead for Education program will go toward the character education program at the school.

"The Sprint Ahead for Education program is a competitive program, and the winning schools and districts should be extremely proud of their accomplishment," said Debby Ballard, director of community relations for Sprint. "The program allows teachers and administrators to implement unique and innovative programs that will have a profoundly positive impact on their students."

From the "Sprint Ahead for Education" program, 19 school districts received up to $25,000, and 45 public schools received up to $5,000. In total, the Sprint Foundation's Sprint Ahead for Education program has awarded more than $607,000 to schools across the country promoting innovative charactereducation. The review committee for the organization reviewed over 1,200 applications from schools across the country and Santapogue was one of the select few to make the cut.

Teachers Cara Kerr, Jennifer Sagginario, Alyson Fitzgerald, and Christine Manzi who created the program and applied for the grant.