The judges have spoken!
The art submission (pictured above) from Brigita Sniokaityte, a 6th Grade Student at Switzerland Point Middle School, and the poetry submission from Taryn Lee, an 8th Grader at Fruit Cove Middle School, were selected as the first-place winners in the 2025 Day Without Violence Art and Poetry Calendar Contest.
Second place winners included Oliva Rieder, a 7th grader at R J Murray Middle School, for art, Fruit Cove Middle School 8th grader Christopher Aspromonti for poetry.
“We appreciate all of the St. Johns County Students who entered the contest, and the continued support of the project by the St. Johns County School District,” said Betty Griffin Center CEO Kelly Franklin. “Their involvement in this calendar project helps raise awareness of our prevention work throughout the county.”
St. Johns County School District Fine Arts Specialist Joanne Crowder, local artist Riette Gouws and author Kristin Paul, who serves as the Strategic and Operations Administrator for the St. Joseph Neighborhood Center, judged all the art and poetry submissions.
Those receiving honorable mention include:
Art
Yiwen Chen Valley Ridge Academy 8th Grade
Gabriella Moura Freedom Crossing Academy 7th Grade
Margaret Staffey Freedom Crossing Academy 7th Grade
Avahlea Rapp Freedom Crossing Academy 7th Grade
Kylie Coarsey Beachside High School 9th Grade
Juliette Phillips Valley Ridge Academy 3rd Grade
Dhruthisri Muthyala Fruit Cove Middle School 8th Grade
Kayleigh Battista Fruit Cove Middle School 8th Grade
Meridith Butterfield Beachside High School 11th Grade
Mattie Boggs Pine Island Academy 8th Grade
Ayla Faris Freedom Crossing Academy 8th Grade
Poetry
Lizhayla Hall Pedro Menendez High School 9th Grade
Mudil Nair Fruit Cove Middle School 6th Grade
Delaney Beringer Tocoi Creek High School 11th Grade
Brianna Rozema Tocoi Creek High School 10th Grade
Hannah Brown Tocoi Creek High School 9th Grade
Daria Hrachova Fruit Cove Middle School 8th Grade
Ricky Circelli Ponte Vedra High School 12th Grade
Daniel Rasner Fruit Cove Middle School 6th Grade
Emma Soto Hickory Creek Elementary 4th Grade
Talia Samoeun Tocoi Creek High School 11th Grade
Contest winners will receive special recognition during a St. Johns County School Board Meeting and have their artwork displayed at the Crisp Ellert Art Museum throughout October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, with 3,000 calendars distributed to classrooms throughout St. Johns County this fall.
The contest was open to all St. Johns County students in kindergarten through 12th grade, whether they attended public school, private school or were home-schooled. The number of entries vary each year, depending on the number of students that participate. First-place winners will receive $50, second-place winners receive $25 and all students receiving honorable mentions receive $10 each.