May 15, 2025

By Lane Kimble

Most teens who take the Work Zone Safe Wisconsin course do so because their driver’s education teacher required it.

Not so for our latest scholarship winner.

Evalin Hammett, 17, says her dad heard about WTBA’s program during a conference and told her about it, so she decided to take it herself.

Hammett says the innovative online course was an eye-opener.

“I was shocked at the huge number of injuries and deaths of road workers from car accidents each year,” Hammett told WTBA.  “I’m thankful for this scholarship and the helpful information I learned in the course.”

WTBA and a coalition of trade groups and member companies launched Work Zone Safestatewide in April 2024.  The free course guides students through what they’ll encounter in work zones and how to safely navigate them via stories from real people impacted by work zone crashes.

More than 2,000 people have taken the course so far.  Students who successfully complete the program can enter to win a monthly $500 scholarship, sponsored by the Wisconsin County Highway Association.

Hammett is a junior at Immanuel Lutheran High School in Eau Claire.  She hopes to become a pharmacist or physician’s assistant after college.