St. Augustine, Fla. (July 30, 2018) – Judges helped Betty Griffin Center go through more than 1,000 entries from students in the St. Johns County School District to select winners in the 2019 Day Without Violence Art and Poetry Contest.
“We received more than 1,400 entries, representing about 1,300 drawings and 100 poems, which always makes the judging extremely difficult in selecting the 13 drawings and 12 poems that are featured in the calendar,” said Betty Griffin Center CEO Joyce Mahr. “Despite the large number of submissions to choose from, our judges narrowed the field down to select some exceptional student entries.”
The 2019 calendar winners include the following:
ART WINNERS
First Place – Blakely Vogelmeier (4th Grade) – Ketterlinus Elementary School
Second Place – Alli Luytjes (4th Grade) – PVPV Rawlings
Olivia Duque (9th Grade), Megan Lui (10th Grade) and Ragen Westfall (11th Grade) – Creekside High School
Francesca Chalfoun (8th Grade) and Ayushi Elhence (8th Grade) – Fruit Cove Middle School
Grace Christoforo (8th Grade) and Lani Dail (8th Grade) – Pacetti Bay Middle School
Lauryn Edel (7th Grade), Lucy Harry (7th Grade) and Danielle Wachala (8th Grade) – Valley Ridge Academy
Masie Slaughter (1st Grade) – Liberty Pines Academy
POETRY WINNERS
First Place – Nia Howard (12th Grade) – Bartram Trail High School
Second Place – Hannah Nierenhausen (11th Grade) – Bartram Trail High School (second)
Geethika Kataru (11th Grade), Victoria Rachal (10th Grade), Julia McQuaig (12th Grade), Madison Gross (11th Grade), and Rebecca Jaeger (12th Grade) – Bartram Trail High School
Dalil Khan (7th Grade), Alex Calabro (7th Grade) and Brighton Hardeman (7th Grade) – Fruit Cover Middle School
Gabrielle Edwards (2nd Grade) – Ketterlinus Elementary School
Anthony Bismi (7th Grade) –Valley Ridge Academy
The contest judges were Dr. Nadia Ramoutar, Director of Enlighten Productions, LLC and professional public speaker, writer, educator, artist, entrepreneurial leader and film maker; and Ann Kiyonaga-Razon, a poet, painter and yoga teacher who holds a master’s degree in International Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
The judges selected the winning entries based on their effectiveness in conveying a positive impression of peacefulness and cooperation, artistic merit, originality, diversity of images (race, gender, age, ability, etc.), and geographical diversity within St. Johns County.
“The work of these students will be published and distributed to every classroom in St. Johns County this fall,” Mahr said. “In addition, the winning art will be exhibited at the Flagler College Crisp-Ellert Art Museum throughout October, which is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.”
The students will also be honored during an award ceremony to be held at the School Board meeting in October.
Any businesses or other donors interested in sponsoring the printing of the calendar should contact the Betty Griffin Center at info@bettygriffincenter.org.
In addition to reaching students through the calendar contest, Betty Griffin Center also provides community/school presentations and education as part of its mission to raise awareness about domestic and sexual violence. Last year, the center provided more than 4,000 people with information and conducted more than 250 presentations.