A record breaking nearly 1,200 students entered. The theme was ‘Don’t Wait: Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years.’
When Mt. Laurel Fire Marshall Brian McVey asked school Superintendent George Rafferty for a little extra help in promoting this year’s fire safety poster contest among the students of Mt. Laurel, McVey got a little more than he bargained for.
While in past years the Mt. Laurel Fire Department has received around a couple hundred entries from students for the contest, this year the fire department received a record breaking nearly 1,200 entries from Mt. Laurel’s young artists.
“That’s five times as many as we’ve had in the past, and it’s been really terrific,” McVey said.
Every year, the New Jersey Fire Prevention Protection Association sponsors the contest for young students to make posters, similar to public service announcements, as a way to have students learn about important fire safety issues.
The theme of this year’s contest was “Don’t Wait: Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years,” and with that message in mind, students put their creative skills to the test by crafting posters expressing the theme in a range of ways.
Officials from the fire department sorted through the almost 1,200 posters to select five finalists who were honored at the Mt. Laurel Board of Education’s meeting this week.
This year’s winners include Kyle Gonzalez of Countryside Elementary School, Lauren Jolicoeur of Hillside Elementary School, Salvatore Neri of Parkway Elementary School, Tessa Sellers of Hartford School and Genevieve Slota of Hillside Elementary School.
Having now won at the local level, McVey said the five finalists would have their posters judged at the county level and potentially at the state level.
With the importance of ensuring smoke detectors are updated and functioning properly, McVey said he reached out to Rafferty and the school district was a way to help spread the message to as many families as possible.
“We really wanted to that message across to our students, but have the students get that message across to their parents,” McVey said.
Rafferty said he made sure to promote the contest during his meetings with all of the district’s principals to encourage them to promote the contest among their students.
“I asked them to help us out because it’s the local fire department, and we want to have good relations, and they’re so important and they do such great job in Mt. Laurel,” Rafferty said.
Despite the heavy push, Rafferty said even he was surprised with just how many posters the fire department received.
“I was so appreciative that everybody really rallied behind the cause and really produced a lot of good posters,” Rafferty said.
In addition to receiving a certificate and recognition from the BOE, the five winning students also received a tablet computer through the fire department and sponsorship of The Lloyd Insurance Agency with Mt. Laurel residents Daryl and Tamara Lloyd.
“They’re Mt. Laurel residents and Mt. Laurel business owners and they want to give back to our schools and our students, and we always love to have that,” Rafferty said.
