By Ashley Jankowski, Current Staff
Sometimes even a raffle prize can contain the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
Last week Paige Devenport was the announced winner of a parking pass for November, thanks to the Compass program at the West Bend High Schools. Unfortunately, her car was wrecked the previous day, which meant she couldn’t use the free parking pass.
Devenport, an East senior, was driving Oct. 30 on County Road D near Moraine Park Technical College when a deer appeared out of the blue. She struck the deer, causing significant damage to the Volkswagen Jetta she acquired only a few months earlier. The insurance company declared the vehicle totaled.
“The only thing I remember is (the deer) being across my windshield and then it took a few seconds to register—oh my god, I just hit a deer,” Devenport said. “I kept driving and then I parked and got out and my whole front end was smashed, the light was shattered and there was a crack in my windshield.”
Devenport had been on her way to work at Charming Paws, a daycare center for dogs. One of the first things she did was call her good friend Mikaela Carbajal, a West senior.
“She called me crying on the phone, saying that she hit a deer at 9:30 at night, stating she was fine,” Carbajal said.
“The only thing I remember is the deer being across my windshield.”
– Paige Devenport
The very next day, Devenport learned about winning the parking pass through the Compass program, which is dedicated to promoting positive behaviors at WBHS.
Devenport had been driving Carbajal to school every day, and says Carbajal was initially enthused about the prize.
“When they did announce it over the speaker, (Mikaela) called me, saying, ‘Oh my gosh, you just won,’ but then I reminded her that I crashed my car,” Devenport said. “That kind of put a damper on the whole thing.”
Carbajal later confessed that she laughed very hard about the ironic timing of Devenport’s prize, knowing she had hit a deer the night before. Since the accident, both Devenport and Carbajal have been driving to school in the car of West senior Gabe Salinas.
Devenport is now looking to buy a new car within the next few months. Since she couldn’t use it, she gave her parking pass to her friend Pearse Schilling, a West junior.
(Photos courtesy of Paige Devenport.)
Paige Devenport’s parking pass, won as a Compass raffle prize.
The West Bend Current 