A Rockwall-Heath High School student swept every level of a national art competition focused on school bus safety.

Jamal M., a special education student at the Heath campus, earned first place in Division 4 (Special Education, Grades K-12) of the 2026 National School Bus Safety Poster Contest. The contest is run by the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT).

Jamal's artwork, created under the 2025-2026 theme "Level Up," advanced through three rounds of competition. He took first place at the North Texas Association of Pupil Transportation (NTAPT) regional contest, then first at the Texas Association of Pupil Transportation (TAPT) state contest. He won first again at the national level, according to Rockwall ISD.

He beat entries from across the country. Christian Villafan of Stars Academy in Paterson, New Jersey, placed second, and Colton Brainard of Marbrook Elementary in Wilmington, Delaware, placed third, School Bus Fleet reported.

A panel of judges from NAPT, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) and the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) scored entries on safety impact, originality, artistic quality and visual effectiveness.

Molly McGee Hewitt, NAPT's executive director and CEO, said in a statement Monday, Aug. 31 that the winning posters "represent students thinking about what school bus safety means to them and then sharing that message with the people around them."

Hewitt congratulated all national winners and thanked the teachers, transportation professionals, state associations and families who make the contest possible. She called the effort an example of "local voices connecting through state engagement to create a national impact."

The overall winner across all divisions was Sai Darshana Yekolu, a sixth-grader at Moseley Middle School in Prosper. That artwork will be featured during National School Bus Safety Week, Oct. 19 through Oct. 23. For the first time, NAPT will place the official poster in the October issue of School BUSRide magazine.

Rockwall-Heath High School serves about 3,070 students in grades 9-12 as part of Rockwall ISD.

NAPT plans to announce the 2027 contest theme following its fall conference, with the drawing period expected to begin in November.