BLOOMINGTON - The 15-year-old girl could hear the rowdy party on the other side of the door as she answered her cell phone.

Her mother thought she was at the mall, but the girl really was at a party. Not wanting to get caught in the lie, the girl hoped to get a ride home but most of her friends had been drinking.

In reality, Sachet Montgomery was standing in her parents' garage reading from a script she helped write, but the dilemma is typical for teenagers.

Her friends at the "party" wanted to share a message to encourage youths to make the right decisions behind the wheel.

Montgomery and Samantha Rodgers, both 15 and sophomores at Normal Community High School, entered a competition sponsored by WHOI of Peoria and State Farm Insurance Cos. Driver education teacher Matt Harr encouraged them to enter and their script was chosen from among 50 submissions.

Their message? "Make the right choice; your parents will understand."

The winning scripts will become public service announcements aired on WHOI and WB stations. Two of the three commercials were penned by NCHS students. The other was from Pekin and Metamora students.

Jason Boyer, 18, and Matt Beer, 17, wrote about friends and relatives of teens who died in car accidents. Loved ones talk about what they will miss because of the accidents, including a father's lost opportunity to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding.

Boyer, a senior who hopes to have a career in television production, learned about the call for ideas from digital media production teacher Aaron Chaon. He taught the students to develop story boards and write scripts.

"We had to work really fast," said Boyer, because there were only days between when the scripts were chosen and when the filming took place.

The goal of "Behind the Wheel" is for good decisions, said WHOI news director Jolie Alois, who directed the commercial at Montgomery's home. "I was shocked how spectacular and how creative they (students' entries) were," Alois said.

The commercials will start Memorial Day weekend.

"At State Farm, auto safety and education are two of our goals, so we felt this was an important topic and issue for us to get involved with," said spokeswoman Missy Lundberg. "Because of our Project Ignition project, we know of the importance of peers talking to peers, when we heard about this project we knew this was something we couldn't pass up."

The project gives students and families an "outlet to make something positive," Alois said. "If we can reach one kid, it will serve our purpose."

Behind the Wheel

What: Commercials created by students for students to encourage good decisions behind the wheel.

When: Premiers 5:30 p.m. May 28 on WHOI television; will run throughout the summer on WHOI and other stations.

Compiled by Phyllis Coulter