There is a sense of relief, and accomplishment, in high schools across Illinois right now, after new figures show the number of teens killed in car crashes has been reduced by 50 percent in the past two years.

In the first nine months of 2007, 127 teenagers died in car wrecks - compared to 60 this year, according to Secretary of State Jesse White's office.

Grassroots groups, parents, police, legislators and teens themselves have come together to tackle the No. 1 killer of teenagers and, despite the encouraging news, more work needs to be done, they say.

"It has all worked together. In all my years of working with government, I have never seen so many agencies work together for a common goal. It shows we can make a difference," said Tazewell County Deputy Sheriff Chuck Linton.

His county was the center of the heartache a few years ago when an alarming number of teen driving deaths incited the community to action. The results are clear.

In 2005 and 2006, Tazewell County saw 15 teens die in crashes over a 16-month period. But the last teen auto death was July 3, 2006, Linton said. Still, Tazewell teens have died in traffic accidents in other counties, emphasizing the importance that the campaign to reduce teen fatalities doesn't slow down.

Linton said his department shares its success with others. "It's become a passion for our agency," he said, noting Tazewell County works closely with a program called Operation Teen Safe Driving sponsored by the Department of Transportation, Allstate Foundation and the Ford Motor Fund.

The program takes go-carts to schools to give students hands-on lessons about the four most common reasons for teen auto deaths and injuries: excessive speed; space between vehicles; hazards; and vehicle handling.

"We need to make teens better drivers," said Linton. "We have to show them. You can talk all day long, but when you present them with an emergency situation, let them handle it and talk about it afterwards, progress is made."

Gibson City

At the other end of Central Illinois, teens helping each other have played a key role in this new awareness.

Judy Weber-Jones, a Gibson City high school driver education instructor and coach, is excited about service-learning where students take the lead on issues they care about - and where they connect with their peers.

This year, students are sewing safety reminder messages on pencil cases in home economics class, painting seat belt reminders on the pavement for art club, and making dramatic public safety messages.

"Sometimes we sit with binoculars and watch (the parking lot)," said Adam Sommer, who participates on a safety patrol that recognizes students who wear seatbelts and drive safely - and doles out rewards like windshield scrapers and license plate frames.

Many of the efforts are part of Project Ignition, sponsored by Bloomington-based State Farm Insurance Cos. and coordinated by the National Youth Leadership Council.

In 25 years of teaching driver education, Weber-Jones said programs like this have more impact than anything adults can do.

"Project Ignition is the only program that has changed teen driving attitudes," said Weber-Jones, whose school was the program's national winner in 2006, earning $10,000 for its achievements in promoting teen driver safety.

This year, the Gibson City school (it couldn't compete for three years after winning) is back as one 25 schools in the nation awarded $2,000 each for Project Ignition efforts. Two others in Central Illinois, Lincoln Community High School and Minonk-based Fieldcrest High School, also are trying to reach the top 10 and win $5,000, and then the single top prize of $10,000 for their schools.

Lincoln

In Logan County, Lincoln Community has lost eight classmates in the last three years because of reckless driving, said Judy Dopp, one of the lead teachers of Project Ignition there.

"Our school has witnessed an unusually high number of teenage deaths resulting from poor choices made while driving and all in our community want to stop this trend," she said.

Students are engaged in a project called "Reckless Driving Can Wreck Your Life" that focuses on eliminating distractions while driving like texting, talking on cell phones, and driving too fast for conditions. With the help of police and the public, they will film a mock crash scene in Lincoln on Thursday as part of their campaign.

"There is lots of community involvement," Dopp said.

Fieldcrest

Shoulder-to-shoulder, more than 100 ambulance drivers, firefighters, city council members, police officers and educators stood Oct. 16 on the Fieldcrest football field to demonstrate their support for safe driving.

"That really made an impact on our school and the community," said Jenna Kalkwars, a Fieldcrest senior and president of Project Ignition there.

"In our school and area, there have been a lot of teens in driving accidents. It affects our school and our community," she said.

Sheila Healy, a teacher's aide and project sponsor, agreed. "Our community has been hit very hard with four teen crash deaths in four years" she said.

For their project, students devised catchy slogans to discourage texting and driving like "Life is Sweet - Don't text and drive" written on cookies.

"We try to have fun with a purpose," Healy said.

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Project Ignition

Sponsored by State Farm Insurance in partnership with the National Youth Leadership Council.

Three schools in The Pantagraph area have been named in the 2009-2010 Top 25 in the nation; each received $2,000:

-- Fieldcrest High School, Minonk.

-- Gibson City-Melvin Sibley High School, Gibson City.

-- Lincoln Community High School, Lincoln.

In 2005-06 Fieldcrest High School won the $10,000 national grand prize. It had to wait three years to compete again and is competing again for the top prize of $10,000.

Operation Teen Safe Driving program

In another safe driving program, the Illinois Department of Transportation in corporation with the Ford Driving Skills for Life Program and Allstate Foundation has awarded 105 high schools in the state $2,000 each for innovative programs to help reduce teen driving fatalities.

Central Illinios winners this year are:

-- Bloomington High School

-- Deer Creek -Mackinaw High School, Mackinaw

-- Fieldcrest High School, Minonk

-- Olympia High School, Stanford

Fieldcrest was the only school to be chosen for both programs.