Click the Dog, Shayla Harris and Patty Harris (right) hold up the check for $1,000 that was presented to Principal Seth Thoreson, on behalf of Branford High School, on Tuesday during lunch. The grant money will be used for the track team.

Click the Dog and representatives from Windstream surprised Branford High School students during lunch on Tuesday with a $1,000 check.

Patty Harris applied for the national Classroom Caravan grant for BHS and was surprised when she got a call last week saying that the school won it.

“I asked my granddaughter, Shayla Harris, where the money should go and she suggested that the track team needed it for new uniforms and equipment,” Harris said.

BHS Principal Seth Thoreson confirmed that the school will be using the money for the track team, “We will be working with the booster club as well to get up-to-date with equipment and uniforms.”

The SchoolsWIN program through Windstream will be giving away a total of $250,000 to public, private and charter schools located in residential services areas.

BHS is the only school in Florida to receive the grant. The program is available in 29 different states. Another grant that is available is the Classroom Connection program for $25,000. Eligible schools must turn in videos that detail their community involvement. Six of those entries will be selected by Windstream to receive the $25,000 grant.

According to BHS Principal Seth Thoreson, the school mailed its entry video in for that program over the weekend.

In a statement released by Windstream, Ron Proleika, vice president of marketing communications said, “SchoolsWIN is designed to help schools supplement the loss of money and resources, for technology and technology upgrades, as a result of budget cuts. All schools in Windstream’s residential service areas are encouraged to get involved by participating in a community improvement project and interacting with and sharing details of the SchoolsWIN campaign with their friends on Facebook and Twitter.”