Student’s Art Becomes Road Sign

March 25, 2025 – By Jake Smith – WACO — You might think making road signs is so easy a third grader can do it. And in this case, you’d be right.

TxDOT employees in the Waco area recently partnered with Gatesville ISD to hold a safety poster contest, with the winner having their art turned into a road sign.

“TxDOT cannot promote traffic safety alone,” said Jacob Chau, TxDOT’s director of transportation operations in Waco. “This type of initiative invites future drivers and their families into our efforts to enhance safety of the traveling public.”

TxDOT received hundreds of entries from students at Gatesville Elementary, and third-grader Kamdyn Redford was the winner with her message of “Less phone. More road.”

The school was selected based on TxDOT data that showed a high amount of distracted driving crashes near the campus.

TxDOT’s local shop formatted Kamdyn’s design to fit on a street sign. To mark the special occasion and highlight Kamdyn’s message, TxDOT recently held a ceremony at the school to install the sign so drivers can see it when approaching the pick-up line.