WEST ORANGE, NJ — The visually stunning “stained-glass” murals created by West Orange High School driver’s education students for the Nikhil Badlani Foundation’s Traffic Safety Awareness project were unveiled April 29 in the Tarnoff Cafeteria, along with the winning title for this year’s campaign: “Put down the attractions to stop the distractions.”
The artwork can currently be seen on NJ Transit buses, light Rail and in local train stations.
The winning team included WOHS students Isauro Sandoval, Jaquan Smith, Dawood Mohammed and Jelani Jackson. Artist Cindy Klein worked with all the students to help create the panels, and students were supervised by driver’s education teachers Jackie Cruz, Bill Urbanski and Brian Dillon.
School district and township officials present at the unveiling included Superintendent Jeff Rutzky, Assistant Superintendent Donna Rando, Board of Education President Laura Lab and Vice-President Mark Robertson, Mayor Robert Parisi, councilwomen Sue McCartney and Michelle Casalino, West Orange Police Chief James Abbott and several WOPD officers. Parisi presented a plaque to the high school regarding the project, which was affixed to the wall by the murals.
Sangeeta and Sunil Badlani, founders of the Nikhil Badlani Foundation, thanked guests, students and staff. Cindy Klein and Andy Anderson of the Essex County Public Safety Academy worked with the Badlanis from the inception of the project. The artwork was made possible through a grant from Essex County College Public Safety Academy, which is funded by the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.
The Nikhil Badlani Foundation is named in honor of the Badlanis’ son, Nikhil, who was killed in June 2011, in a three-car collision involving a distracted driver. Since then, the Nikhil Badlani Foundation has become a driving force in promoting traffic safety awareness in New Jersey, working with driver’s education classes, developing art projects and helping to provide a driving simulator for West Orange High School.
In August 2015, New Jersey passed “Nikhil’s Law,” which requires the Motor Vehicle Commission to inform and test drivers on the dangers of failing to comply with traffic safety laws and giving drivers the option to take the “STOP for Nikhil Safety Pledge.”
In addition to the traffic safety component, the foundation offers instrumental music training for West Orange students, voice lessons to special needs students, and scholarships for graduating West Orange and Columbia High School seniors.
“Our goal is to provide these students the tools and knowledge to be safe drivers,” Sangeeta Badlani said in the release. “The students sketch their observations of the driving behaviors on the road and what they consider to be safe-driving practices. The mural will be a constant reminder to the young drivers to drive safely. Our hope is that the students will learn safe-driving habits through the immersive exercise of creating traffic safety artwork which will last a lifetime.”
To read more about the project, visit WOHS Driver’s Ed Art Project.
Photos Courtesy of Cynthia Cumming
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