Schools
West Orange HS Mural Honors Late Student, ‘Nikhil's Pledge’
Students in West Orange can take "Nikhil's Pledge" and add their own thumbprints to the mural.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — A new mural at West Orange High School will pay tribute to the memory of Nikhil Badlani, while also helping students to keep their own safety in mind when they get behind the wheel.
Earlier this month, safety ambassadors for the Nikhil Badlani Foundation (NBF) unveiled an interactive art piece at West Orange High School, with local officials, police and board members in attendance.
Founded this year, NBF formed the Nikhil Badlani Foundation Youth Advisory Board to empower high school students to have a voice in reducing the number of car crashes that occur.
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The organization is named for Nikhil Badlani, an 11-year-old who was killed in a 2011 motor vehicle accident involving a driver who ran a stop sign on the South Orange/Maplewood border near South Mountain Reservation.
- See related article: West Orange Boy Killed In Crash Would Have Graduated This Year (VIDEO)
- See related article: Nikhil Badlani, A Talented and Brilliant Student (Obituary)
The new mural at WOHS offers a representation of Nikhil's Pledge – a promise that local students make in honor of Badlani. WOHS junior Ruth Donagher designed the concept for the mural, which took a team of students more than 10 days to complete.
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All sophomore students who pass the DMV’s written test in New Jersey can now take the pledge by putting their thumbprint on the mural.
See photos from the May 3 unveiling here.
Badlani’s mother, Sangeeta, said that she was amazed by the “creativity and passion” of the students who made the mural into a reality.
“They have been able to accomplish so much in such little time,” she said.
Assemblyman John McKeon (District 26), who was also in attendance at the mural unveiling, said that it’s a great experience to get a driver's license, but that it also comes with a lot of responsibility.
"In the wake of tragedy, the Badlanis came to me with an incredible strategy to prevent it in other's lives," McKeon said.
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