Volunteer judges selected an art submission from Pacetti Bay Middle School eighth-grader Nivedita Girish Menon (pictured above) and a poem written by Fruit Cove Middle School sixth-grader Deara Chen as the first-place winners in the 2027 Day Without Violence Art and Poetry Calendar Contest, sponsored each year by the Betty Griffin Center.
Second place winners were Alya Faris, a tenth-grade student at Bartram Trail High School (for art) and Eva Riley, an eighth grader at Fruit Cove Middle School (for poetry).
The top 12 student artworks and poems will be featured in the calendar, with 3,500 distributed among county schools next year – and sold at the two thrift shoppes operated by Betty Griffin Center. Contest winners will also have their artwork displayed at the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum throughout October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Students receiving honorable mention include:
Art
Emiliia Sahadyna, 5th Grade, Millcreek Academy
Aubrey Kemp, 7th Grade, Freedom Crossing Academy
Lauren Rice, 8th Grade, Freedom Crossing Academy
Naomika Girish Menon, 2nd Grade, Wards Creek Elementary
James Hill, 8th Grade, Freedom Crossing Academy
Griffin Dagostino, 7th Grade, Freedom Crossing Academy
Siyan Zhao, 10th Grade, Bartram Trail Hight School
Jemma Kotula, 9th Grade, Bartram Trail Hight School
Mariana Pieruccini 10th Grade, St Augustine High School
Leila Saunders, 7th Grade, Freedom Crossing Academy
Hannah Singletary, 9th Grade, Pedro Menendez High School
Poetry
Puneeth Yerra, 8th Grade, Fruit Cove Middle School
Shradda Nambiar, 12th Grade, Ponte Vedra High School
Jada Jackson, 10th Grade, St Augustine High School
Mudil Nair, 8th Grade, Fruit Cove Middle School
Driola Collaku, 8th Grade, Fruit Cove Middle School
Ciyan Gholmieh, 7th Grade, Millcreek Academy
Evelyn Christine Sepplefrick, 7th Grade, Home School
David Piekarsky, 8th Grade, Fruit Cove Middle School
Jaxson Farmer, 8th Grade, Fruit Cove Middle School
Daniela Jimenez, 11th Grade, Ponte Vedra High School
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. First-place winners will receive $50, second-place winners receive $25 and all students receiving honorable mentions receive $10 each, along with a certificate and a copy of the calendar. Students will also be recognized at the St. Johns County School Board Meeting in October.
“We want to thank those who volunteered to go through more than 1000 submissions to choose our winners, local artists Dara Dodson and Jenna Alexander, who judged the artwork, and our poetry judge, Kristin Paul,” said Betty Griffin Center CEO Kelly Franklin. “Also, we want to recognize teachers Ms. Waldman (Millcreek Academy), Kathryn Frericks (Freedom Crossing Middle School), Karen Feeser (Ponte Vedra High) and Debbie Doemel (Fruit Cove Middle School)…who each received a prize for encouraging their students to participate and submitting the most entries.”
The contest was launched by the nonprofit agency in 2000 in partnership with the St. Johns County School District to encourage healthy relationships and prevent violence throughout the county.