Kansas kids win poster/video contests, focus on improving traffic safety

Winners of two Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day statewide contests have been announced as part of the national safety campaign Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day.

For the poster contest – Kaymi Zink of Claflin, Finley Maloney of Kingman and Abigail Coons of Lawrence are the statewide winners. Each student was first selected as a regional winner and will receive a bicycle and a helmet donated by Safe Kids Kansas at presentations at their schools. A total of 836 Kansas kids ages 5 to 13 participated.

As statewide winners in their age categories, they will also receive a Kindle Fire tablet from the Kansas Turnpike Authority, a $50 gift card from the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association of Kansas, a $50 gift card from Wal-Mart and movie passes from AAA Kansas. 

Abigail Goons, created this poster. She is a student from Lawrence. 

Finley Maloney, created this poster and is a student from Kingman. 

Kaymi Zink created this poster and is a student from Claflin. 

For the video contest – Andrew Marshall Tabb from Shawnee Mission West won first place. He will receive his choice of an iPad, GoPro or Osmo Steadicam along with a $500 donation to the school, class or booster club.

Students from Eudora High School captured second place, and students from Lawrence High School placed third in the video contest. Each will receive one of the remaining prizes listed above. There were 37 entries from teens across the state. To see the winning videos, go to http://bit.ly/2018PTBOF.

Organizations that work together on this safety campaign include the Kansas Department of Transportation, Kansas Turnpike Authority, Kansas Highway Patrol, AAA of Kansas, Kansas Contractors Association, Kansas Family Partnership, Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office, Federal Highway Administration and the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers.

Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day is a nationwide effort to increase roadway safety and reduce all traffic fatalities. For more information and a list of all the winners across Kansas, go to www.ksdot.org and click on the Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day information.

Aviation Art Contest now accepting entries

The KDOT Division of Aviation officials are encouraging young artists take their talents to new heights by participating in the 2018 International Aviation Art Contest, "Flight Into the Future.”

The contest, for which there is no entry fee, is for artists ages 6 to 17 years of age and is intended to encourage creative kids to imagine what the future of aviation will be.

What new innovations and ideas will shape the aviation of the future? From hang gliders and parachutists, to drone pilots and citizen astronauts, the only limit to the future of flight is the imagination of builders, dreamers and pilots of today. It’s time to tap into your own imagination, grab your favorite set of crayons, markers, pencils, or paints and create a poster for this year’s Fédération Aéronautique Internationale’s theme, Flight into the Future. Show us your vision of what can happen when people work together and follow their passion for flight

Artists will compete in age groups:

• Those born between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011
• Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2007
•  And Jan. 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2003

The top three state winners from each age group will have their work entered in the national competition. The three winners in each group at the national level will then have their entries considered in international competition.
State winners will receive a certificate and state recognition; national winners will receive certificates, ribbons and a framed reproduction of their artwork; and international winners will receive certificates and medals.

The deadline for entries, which cannot be computer-generated and must be submitted in 11¾-by-16½-inch format, is Jan. 19, 2018.

For more information and contest rules, go here.