The Kohl's Cares program - a philanthropic arm of the department store chain - will award $500,000 each to the top 20 schools that receive the most votes on Facebook for a total of $10 million.

Willow Springs Elementary, which is outside Fuquay-Varina, was ranked No. 33 on the list as of Friday.

It was the only Triangle school in the top 100 and the only public school from North Carolina in the running.

The school has used several special events to raise awareness about the contest.

On Saturday, parents sought votes at Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion, where country singer Brad Paisley was performing.

The night before, the school put its teachers in cages at the Fuquay-Varina High School home football game in an effort to raise awareness of the contest.

Parents and staff raised nearly 1,000 votes at the game, Principal Camille Miller said.

Parents of students at Willow Springs will be in at N.C. State University in Raleigh today and Thursday.

Boosters will bring computers to the brickyard near the D.H. Hill Library to encourage students to vote for their school.

Kohl's will allot funding based on projects that schools list as needs in their online applications.

Voting ends Friday.

Miller hopes the school will draw enough support by then so she can purchase enough Smartboards for each classroom.

"They're so much more motivated when you put technology in their hands," she said. "We have big possibilities."

To vote, visit http://apps. facebook.com/KohlsCares/ school/690131/willow- springs-elementary .