Annual awards presented this week
SHELTON
– The two first place Fire Prevention Poster Contest winners, a fourth
grade and a fifth grade winner, were announced Wednesday at the annual Shelton
Fire Prevention
Contest Awards Ceremony at Shelton City Hall. Overall City of Shelton Winners is as follows: Grade 4 - Berra Barkana of Mohegan School; Grade 5 -
Isabela Baghdady of St. Lawrence School.
Each poster will now advance to a state level contest.
Assistant Chief Ted Pisciotta congratulated
students and thanked parents, teachers, principals, and firefighters for
their efforts.
John Anglace, President of the Board of Aldermen, spoke about the
benefit of the annual contest and his gratitude for all the many
individuals that support this fire safety program.
All first and second
place winners from the fourth and fifth grade representing
each of Shelton’s public and parochial schools, received a cash
award of $75 and $50, respectively, from Anglace. The two overall
City of Shelton winners, were presented a cash award of $100, a
certificate, and a medal.
The
annual poster contest, launched in 1984, is designed to develop
fire safety awareness in youngsters and to encourage them to take the
message home to their families.
It is jointly sponsored by Connecticut
FAIR Plan, representing the insurance industry
in the state; the Connecticut Fire Marshals Association; Connecticut
Board of Education and the Office of State Fire Marshal.
The local
contest is administered by the Shelton Fire Prevention Bureau.
Approximately 900 posters were submitted this year from
Booth Hill, Elizabeth Shelton, Long Hill, Mohegan, Perry Hill, St.
Joseph, St. Lawrence and Sunnyside schools.
Each student who submitted a
poster will receive a Certificate of Appreciation and a pen from the
Connecticut Fire Prevention Poster Committee. Judging
was held on Dec. 19 with representatives from the Board of Aldermen as judges. All first place posters will be displayed over the
next year at schools, public buildings, and events.
Essay contest winners
Anglace also presented cash awards and certificates to winners of the
Sixth Grade
Essay/Public Service Announcement Contest. Classrooms received a
cash award of $100, $75, and $50 for first, second, and third place,
respectively. Each student author received a
cash award of $50.
The Bureau is thankful for the volunteer essay/PSA
judges from the Shelton Patch and Valley Independent Sentinel.
Since the
contest began in 1996, its purpose has been to promote fire safety by
having students research the topic while writing
their PSA.
The fire department/fire prevention bureau would like to use
the essay to help remind adults and children how important fire
prevention is to Everyone/Everyday.
This year’s winners are:
1st Place
Mr. Fabrizi’s Class, Perry Hill School
Student Authors: Alyssa Bretan and Codi Lynders
2nd Place
Mrs. Reilly’s Class, Perry Hill School
Student Authors: Sarah Gloria and Kaitlyn Lupia
3rd Place
Mrs. Novak’s Class, St. Lawrence School
Student Author: Peter Sandri
Students
of both the poster and essay contests depicted many of the essential
elements of preventing fire from ever occurring and of preparation and
planning required
to be ready for fire.
Pisciotta hopes the messages of
posters and essays will be shared with everyone in the community to help
further reduce needless damage to property, injury to persons and loss
of life that can result from fire.
In addition
to spreading information about fire safety, Pisciotta also finds
the contest helpful to measure the effectiveness of educational programs of
the fire prevention bureau. "From reviewing the nearly 900 posters and
40 essays it becomes apparent where we have
made a great impact and have identified areas where special focus may
be needed to improve our educational efforts," he said.
For information contact
the Shelton Fire Prevention Bureau at 924-1555 or on the web at
www.cityofshelton.org.
This information was taken from a press release from Ted Pisciotta, Assistant Chief.
