On Feb. 27, TxDOT's Waco District hosted a poster contest for high schools in their eight-county territory. The event is part of an ongoing series of activities sponsored by the agency through the year, with the goal of reducing the number of injuries and deaths caused by impaired driving.
Project Celebration events are conducted by educators, parents and community partners to help keep students safe and alcohol-free throughout the school year, especially during school-related celebrations. The activities provide students ongoing education on the dangers of impaired driving, with concentrated education near a celebratory event, usually following prom or graduation. TxDOT annually awards mini-grants of $700 as seed money to help sponsor Project Celebration.
Winners of the contest received additional funds for their Project Celebration event. The first-place prize of $1,500 was awarded to Akerria Linton, Donavon Bailey, Meosha Hughes, and Dezarae Brown from Marlin High School, for a three-subject poster highlighting three different dangerous driving habits to avoid. Second-place and $1,250 went to McGregor High School; third place and $1,000 went to Kopperl High School.
Participants created a tri-fold poster on the dangers of impaired driving, with one group member giving a verbal message of about 5 to 13 minutes. Each group sent one speaker at a time to the judges' table to give their presentation. Entries were judged on the creativity of the poster and verbal message, the use of and accuracy of statistics, and the overall quality of the presentation.
There were five judges for the event, including two from TxDOT: Mary Lamm, Waco District Safety Officer, and Jodi Wheatley, Public Information Officer. Sandy Wachsmann represented the Waco ISD police department, with Taylor Bee, Coordinator for the Texas RED Program (Reality Education for Drivers), and Stephanie Drum, VASA (Voices Against Substance Abuse) Community Coalition Coordinator with VOICE.
Before the presentations, Wachsmann spoke briefly to students about her son, who had recently crashed his pickup truck driving back to college. With tears in her eyes, she affirmed, “I truly believe that his seatbelt saved his life!”
Eighteen area high schools are participating in this year's Project Celebration grant provided by TxDOT.
Jake Smith
I-35 Public Information Officer
254-867-2705
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