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students' artwork featured in calendar
Young artists across Idaho trained their crayons, markers and pencils on important highway safety messages for the Idaho Transportation Department’s 2010 Highway Safety Kids Calendar. 
The 2010 calendar features artwork by local artists Abbie Uhlenkott and Natasha Gimmeson, 5th grade students attending Prairie Middle School. The full-color calendar is produced each year by ITD’s Office of Highway Operations and Safety and features drawings about highway safety issues submitted by K-6 teachers from throughout the state. Winning entries came from Kellogg, Harrison, Lapwai, Weippe, Cottonwood, Lewiston, Boise, Mountain Home, Dietrich, Malta, Pocatello, Soda Springs and Rexburg. Each year the calendar is dedicated to people who work to save lives and prevent injuries on roadways. The 2010 calendar is dedicated to Gary Rose, a firefighter at the Idaho Falls Fire Department for 25 years and member of the Idaho Traffic Safety Commission since the early 1990s, and his wife Joanne, an active champion of traffic safety. “Gary knows the reality of what happens when a seat belt is not worn,” states the calendar introduction. “He is committed to talking about wearing a seat belt every time and by everyone who drives or rides in a vehicle.” The couple spoke before the Idaho Legislature on adopting a Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) program that now allows teenagers to practice driving with an experienced adult driver for six months before receiving full driving privileges. Calendar artists ranged from kindergarten through sixth grade. Safe driving themes were divided among grade levels: grades K-2, seat belts, child safety seats or school zone safety; grades 3-4, bicycle safety, aggressive or distracted driving; and grades 5-6, impaired driving, seat belts or work zone safety. The calendar is produced in a monthly format. For each month, the winning student’s first name and photograph are printed on the calendar next to his or her winning artwork, along with their grade and school location. Each student receives a custom-made calendar frame in which to display the art. The calendars are distributed to elementary schools and law enforcement agencies throughout Idaho.  |
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