GLEN SPEY, NY — Closing out a month-long emphasis on fire safety and prevention, students at the George Ross Mackenzie Elementary School participated in a safety-poster contest. After the artwork was judged at the local and county level, the winners of the contest were announced.

First, second and third place at the local level went to sixth graders Sydney Moscatiello, Mia Vazquez and Hailee Gutman. Sydney was also awarded second place at a county-level judging, joined by fifth-grader Brooke Ranne, who placed third. The students were called out of class on November 4 to receive their monetary prizes.

The poster contest is part of an ongoing effort to embed fire safety and prevention principles into the students. The theme for the contest was “plan your escape.” Each poster outlined the artists’ plans for dealing with such an event, and centered around having a gathering place for family outside and away from the fire, such as a tree, large rock or other obvious place. The students said that they discussed the need for a plan with their families.

The project is a long-standing tradition at the elementary school, and is being continued by Allison Brown, who joined the faculty this year.

The students look forward to the poster contest, and the winners celebrated each others’ accomplishments.

The judges of the contest at the local level were impressed by the skill of the drawings, so much so that usually only the posters judged the three best would advance to the county level, but this year the quality was such that additional posters were also included in the county judging. The Mackenzie students have a reputation for producing good artwork and placing well at the county level.

Principal Michael Carpentieri praised Brown’s work with the students in encouraging and guiding their artistic abilities. He also expressed appreciation that Brown and her predecessor, recently retired art teacher Patricia Gerson, have encouraged their students to participate in this long-standing contest  with a high level of success, both educationally and with skilled art work.

The local contest is sponsored by the Highland Lake, Lumberland and Yulan fire departments. The county prizes are funded by the Sullivan County Bureau of Fire.