The "Driving Isn't A Game" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an article in my local newspaper about a young man who is a sophomore at Manheim Township High School where I taught high school at one time.  Seems that James Lorenzo, a sophomore at Manheim Township High School, created the design now displayed on a billboard along New Holland Pike.  Lorenzo completed the design as an entry in the annual regional "No Excuses Youth Traffic Safety" Billboard Design Contest sponsored by the Center for Traffic Safety and State-Farm Insurance.  For the 8-bit video game inspired image, Lorenzo won $100 and the school was awarded $1,000 by the agency.  The Center for Traffic Safety is a federally-funded agency that provides traffic safety education across Adams, Lancaster, York and Lebanon counties.  The annual contest selected winners from each of those counties, and Lorenzo is the Lancaster County winner.  An 8-bit video game is one of the earliest styles of video games, known for its heavily pixelated appearances.  Lorenzo's image reads, "Driving isn't a game" with three pixelated hearts - one colored in red, another half red-half black and a third colored in black - which references a player's health level in a game.  James worked on the design as part of an assignment in his graphic design class with teacher Cortney Hauer.  Students completed the design over 10 class periods, where they researched and identified key design elements used to effectively communicate on billboards.  The final product was designed using the Adobe Illustrator software program.  "When it was announced, James was in disbelief that his design won, but was very excited to have his design chosen for the contest, " Hauer said.  His billboard design has been on display since April 22 and throughout most of May, which is Youth Traffic Safety Month.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.