Most Creative: Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Academy 

The campaign from Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Academy was divided into three sections: School, Youth, and Community. At the school level, the students promoted the RWJ Safety Ambassadors program, recruited and trained a dedicated team to educate younger students on brain injury prevention, and gained visibility through posters and club fair participation. For the Youth component, the Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Academy team presented at Lincoln Elementary School, responded to safety concerns raised by staff, and created educational materials to improve signage and parent awareness. In the broader community, one Safety Ambassador shadowed public health professionals to help organize events, including a training session for municipal workers on physical and mental safety. 

Best Use of Teamwork: Dumont High School 

Dumont High School’s Get Home Safe Campaign aimed to promote responsible decision-making and safety awareness among students as drivers, passengers, and pedestrians, with a year-round program that fosters community engagement and long-term impact. Monthly planning meetings, committee work, and partnerships with faculty and community members—like the Dumont Police Department—fostered accountability, communication skills, and a shared sense of responsibility that made the campaign both cohesive and impactful. 

Best Use of Community Engagement: Oakcrest High School

The Oakcrest team engaged in pre-planning meetings to determine their focus and implementation strategy, ultimately launching a comprehensive safety initiative that impacted individuals of all ages across the school and wider community. Their efforts included collaborations with organizations such as EndDD.org (End Distracted Driving), Cooper Hospital, NJM Safe Teen Driving, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, incorporating guest speakers, data analysis, and presentations. Students also partnered with local officials and the Hamilton Township Police Department to create PSAs, develop a road safety improvement plan, and educate younger students on pedestrian and driver safety. 

Best New School: Passaic Arts & Science Charter School – Clifton High

The project of Passaic Arts and Science Charter School – Clifton High focused on promoting helmet safety by teaching students the importance of wearing helmets correctly through educational materials such as posters, demonstrations, and interactive activities. These resources were shared during school assemblies and classroom visits, particularly targeting younger students to encourage early adoption of safe habits. The goal was to create a lasting impact by making safety education engaging and age-appropriate. 

Best New School: South River High School

The objective of the South River High School campaign was to educate first-grade students on pedestrian safety by teaching essential habits such as using crosswalks, obeying traffic signals, wearing visible clothing, and avoiding distractions while walking, biking, or riding a scooter. Additionally, the program aimed to promote safe driving habits among high school students within the driving-age population. 

Honorable Mention: Bordentown Regional High School

Through the Don’t Text and Drive, Bordentown Wants You Alive Club (DTXTD) students worked to make crosswalks safer for both pedestrians and drivers. Their theme for the 2024–2025 school year was, “Head Up, Phone Down, Cross Safe: Save a Scottie.” DTXTD raised awareness about the importance of crossing roadways safely through five major projects. Surveys, photos, and videos were used to evaluate the impact of these initiatives. This year, the projects were expanded to include elementary students, high school students, community members, police officers, and Parks and Recreation township workers. 

Honorable Mention: South Brunswick High School

The main objective of South Brunswick’s project was to decrease the use of cell phones while driving – especially among teen drivers – with a secondary focus on being a safe passenger. South Brunswick High School created a PSA video, designed a billboard, designed bumper magnets that are being sold at local businesses, made bookmarks that were available at the public library and high school library, and hosted monthly tabling events with distracted driving trivia and pledge signing. 

Honorable Mention: West Orange High School 

This year, the Youth Advisory Board at West Orange High School implemented a multi-faceted traffic safety campaign that combined education, outreach, legislation, and community partnerships. Through platforms like Instagram and school newsfeeds, photos and highlights from their Traffic Safety Week and pledge campaign were shared, encouraging more students to get involved. West Orange High School also designed eye-catching posters and hung them around school, making sure that even those without social media could participate and learn about traffic safety. 

Runner Up: Lenape Regional High School District

The Heads Up, Eyes Forward campaign is designed to have a lasting impact by creating a culture of safe driving that is visible, student-led, and reinforced year after year. Through consistent efforts—like their monthly Safe Driver recognition, eye-catching magnets, and the installation of 48 signs across 27 schools—the students of Lenape Regional High School District ensured that students are regularly reminded of the importance of staying focused behind the wheel. 

Runner Up: Burlington City High School

The objective was to raise awareness about pedestrian and teen driver safety through year-long advocacy efforts led by the Burlington City Youth Advisory Board. By engaging in community outreach, legislative collaboration, and storytelling—including the creation of a national PSA in partnership with the National Road Safety Foundation—the students of Burlington City High School aimed to honor the memory of their fallen crossing guard, Bruce Morlak, and inspire real change in driver behavior, school zone infrastructure, and youth-led public safety initiatives.