Abilene students paint clear picture for work zone awareness

April 23, 2025

By Alaisha Montanez

ABILENE — Work zone crash statistics in recent years paint a very clear picture: driver behavior must change.

And to help remind drivers—both current and future—of the importance of staying focused while in a work zone, TxDOT recently called on the creativity of young Texans.

“We figured if there was a way to get the message to the younger generation, then they would be more inclined to call their parents out on not wearing a seatbelt or speeding,” said Jill Christie, a TxDOT traffic safety specialist in Abilene. “And maybe, just maybe, once they were old enough to drive themselves, the messages would have stuck, and it would be a natural action vs an action that needed to be changed.”

Local high school students were tapped to create a poster centered around work zone awareness. The winner’s poster would then become a coloring sheet for the next year’s elementary aged students.

“We wanted to create something around work zone awareness that would span several years, not just one year,” Christie said. “By bringing the contest to both high school and elementary aged students, we not only have something that reaches both demographics, but we have the opportunity to continue this for years to come.”

Participation in the contest has grown each year with a handful of poster submissions and dozens of coloring sheet submissions this year.

“We are very excited to see the program continue to grow and gain interest and participation at each level,” Christie said. “It was so neat to browse through the coloring contest submissions this year. The use of colors and outlining is always so fun. It was much harder than I expected to choose a winner.”

Fifth-grader Bryson from Stafford Elementary and Yaquelin Soto, a junior from Colorado City High School, were this year’s winners.

“This year’s poster contest winner was so well thought out and nailed the TxDOT work zone awareness message,” Christie said. “We were very impressed with the attention and consideration the student put into the messaging.”

The two winners will be recognized at a Work Zone Awareness media event in Abilene during the national Work Zone Awareness Week.