IDOT, Partners Announce Winners of 2012 Work Zone Safety Calendar Contest

Finalists Honored for Ingenuity, Artistic Abilities to Promote Safety

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and safety advocacy partners today honored 12 students from across the state whose artwork was selected in the 2011-2012 Illinois Work Zone Safety Calendar Contest. The drawings of the finalists will appear in the 2013 Illinois Work Zone Safety Calendar, which will be distributed at IDOT events across Illinois.

“I proudly commend and congratulate the winners of this year’s Work Zone Safety Calendar Contest for their dedication, creativity and hard work,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann L. Schneider. “This friendly, educational competition exemplifies a collaborative effort between state transportation and safety advocacy groups to further the goal of zero work zone fatalities.”

The Illinois State Board of Education and IDOT joined with the Illinois Chapter of the American Traffic Safety Service Association and the American Traffic Safety Services Foundation to coordinate the statewide calendar contest and promote work zone safety by introducing children at an early age to safe driving techniques. The idea is to instill a lifelong awareness of work zone hazards and encourage safe driving behavior in the future. Children were asked to draw their view of a work zone.

A total of 94 schools submitted 526 drawings for the contest this year. More than 3,450 students from various schools across the state participated in the Illinois calendar contest.

Students in kindergarten through 6th grade in public and private elementary schools around the state were eligible to participate in this contest. There were three categories: kindergarten through 1st grade, 2nd through 4th grade and 5th through 6th grade.

Since the contest began in 2005, more than 17,000 elementary students have participated in helping IDOT promote work zone safety. Entries from the top 12 finalists from Illinois are on the IDOT website, at www.dot.il.gov/trafficsafety/WZS/WZScontest.html.