Four students from Berlin Community School were congratulated for having won a statewide contest to commemorate Smokey’s 75th birthday
Smokey Bear visited Berlin Community School Wednesday, Feb. 6 to thank students from four classrooms in fourth grades and below for having submitted artwork to a statewide contest.
This year marks Smokey Bear’s 75th birthday since first being commissioned by the U.S. Forest Service and the Ad Council to be a symbol to promote forest fire prevention.
Joe Battersby, assistant division warden of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, brought Smokey Bear to congratulate four students on their work having won the statewide contest to be used as artwork for the Smokey Bear 2019 Calendar.
Students across the state were able to draw pictures depicting the importance of forest fire safety, such as how to dispose of ashes properly, outdoor BBQ safety and more.
Of the over 3,500 submissions received from over 220 classrooms in New Jersey, four students alone from BCS were chosen to be in the final calendar.
Battersby says approximately 15 percent of forest fires each year are attributed to having been started by kids, either intentionally or unintentionally, leading to the push for members of the state Forest Fire Service to visits schools to meet with students to discuss fire prevention.
“We got a quarter of the calendar so I think that’s amazing,” said Principal Shelly Ward Richards. “The kids seemed so excited and it was really neat to have Smokey here for the students as well, and for BCs to get such recognition. We have really great students.”
Third grader Yuni Banyai’s artwork was chosen to represent January, while second grader Soyoon Ahn was chosen for March, first grader Zachary David II was chosen for April and second grader Winnie Banyai was chosen for November.
Ahn was also the overall winner in the statewide contest, having received more votes than any other piece.
