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GREENSBORO — Madeline Kirby told her parents not to come with her to the “Cool to Be Smart” event Sunday.

She and more than 400 other 2011 Guilford County Schools graduates earned invitations to the event at the Greensboro Coliseum Pavillion, and everyone who showed up would be entered into drawings for prizes — the biggest being a 2011 Scion tC.

“I won’t win,” the 18-year-old said to her parents. “What are the chances?”

The Grimsley High School graduate realized she was wrong when she tried the key in the lock on the driver’s door and the car’s horn sounded, startling her. She jumped, and balloons and confetti fell around her.

“Call my parents,” she yelled to a friend after sitting inside the car and turning the engine.

Rice Toyota/Scion and Businesses for Excellence in Education sponsored the event to reward students who passed at least five Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams. In addition to the car, the organizers gave away 70 iPods and iPads.

This is the ninth time Rice Toyota/Scion has organized a “Cool to Be Smart” event.

Jenny and Bob Forman, who attended the event with their daughter Caroline, began using it as an incentive for their children after the family moved from New York to Greensboro nine years ago.

“I needed them to have reasons to feel fortunate to be living here,” Jenny Forman said. “That did push them to take more AP classes.”

Their daughter went home Sunday without a car, but she did win an iPod Nano.

“I’m thrilled,” her mother said.

School administrators, principals and others helped hand out prizes, and they commended the college-bound students for their hard work. This year’s Cool to Be Smart attendees passed a total of 3,207 AP and IB exams during high school, topping last year’s class by 106.

Kirby, who is going to UNC-Chapel Hill, passed four IB exams and six AP exams.

Her parents are proud not just that she succeeded, but that she did so through a challenging junior year. Her 15-year-old brother Jay spent the year undergoing treatment for leukemia. Kirby spent a lot of time caring for her youngest brother, 10-year-old Henry. The car she used to pick him up from school had broken down. Now, the family has three cars again.

Kirby will study chemistry and plans to go to medical school. She’s considering a career in oncology or cancer research.

Jay Kirby has his learner’s permit, but for now he won’t be sitting in the Scion’s driver’s seat.

“Maybe when he’s more experienced,” his sister said.

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at 373-7088 or jamie.kennedy@news-record.com