The lesson nine-year-old Skyler Ambrose learned when he pointed out a need for better playground equipment at his elementary school is that you’re never too young to make a difference.

“My son came to me at the beginning of the school year very upset about the playground,” said Skyler’s mother, Stephanie. “I stopped, looked at him and said, ‘Now tell me what you can do to fix the playground so you will enjoy it for the next three years.’”

That got the wheels in Skyler’s head turning. He went to his school and started a petition to improve the playground. He gathered over 100 signatures. Next he went to a teacher and got a jar so he could collect spare change from students. He also donated $100 of his own money to the playground. His efforts prompted the school to host a BBQ chicken fundraiser for the playground.

“I am so proud that he took the proper steps to start making changes for his school instead of stepping back and only complaining,” Ambrose said. “I am one proud Mom!”

Ambrose shared her son’s fund-raising project in the lottery’s N.C. Proud Moments in education contest, becoming one of ten people to win $20,000. She plans to donate some of the money to the playground fund and then save the rest for her son’s college education.

In the N.C. Proud Moments contest, the Education Lottery asked North Carolinians to share their proudest moments in education and how they would use $20,000 to create more proud moments. The lottery received hundreds of moving responses. A panel of judges chose 10 winners from the 100 entries that got the most votes. The contest helped mark the lottery’s 10th anniversary as it raises money to support education programs in North Carolina. Since 2006, the lottery has raised more than $4.6 billion. The winners’ submissions and a video featuring their stories are posted on the N.C. Proud Moments website, located at http://www.ncproudmoments.com/.