Kiski Area students take top prizes in billboard contest to combat distracted driving
Two Kiski Area High School seniors took top spots in this year’s contest to design billboards with messages against distracted driving.
Seniors Jack Coleman and Amber Coutch placed first and second, respectively.
They were recognized Friday during a ceremony held at the high school.
The contest was sponsored by State Farm, which partnered with PennDOT and the Southwest Region Traffic Safety Study.
They competed in a contest for PennDOT District 12, which includes Westmoreland, Washington, Greene and Fayette counties. The students are asked to design and submit a billboard campaign with a message to stop distracted driving. April is National Driving Distracted Awareness Month.
Coleman, of Vandergrift, received $1,000 for his first-place showing. In addition, his winning design is featured on a billboard on Hancock Avenue in Vandergrift.
Saying he wanted to design an image with a happier theme, he created a retro, hippie design that features rainbow colors, a fast-moving car and a tossed-out cellphone.
Coleman plans to study art this fall at Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida.
“It feels awesome to win. It was unexpected,” said Coleman, who used watercolor paint, Sharpies and paint pens for his design.
Coutch received $500 for her second-place design that stresses a message of don’t text while driving.
“I’ve seen people text and drive, and I wanted to work on that for the design,” said Coutch, who studies multimedia at Northern Westmoreland Career & Technical Center in New Kensington.
The third-place winner is Luke Will of Peters Township High School.
Fourteen students from eight high schools submitted designs. All participating students received a $100 Amazon gift card.
According to State Farm data, 97% of teens agree that texting while driving is dangerous — but 43% admitted to doing it anyway. Car crashes are the number one killer of teens in the United States.
Texting while driving is banned in 48 states.
Kiski Area High School Principal Chad Roland praised Coleman’s talents.
“Jack is an extremely talented and smart young man that deserves any and all accolades he receives,” Roland said. “Perhaps his most impressive quality is he is a kind and passionate person who is simply fun to be around.”
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.