NASHVILLE—The Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office has recognized the winning entrants in the 2016 Fire Prevention Poster Contest, including students from Arlington and Collierville.
Local winners included:
- 12th-grade winner: Katie Tucker of Collierville High School, sponsored by Collierville Fire & Rescue
- Eighth-grade winner: Julia Timms of Collierville Middle School, sponsored by Collierville Fire & Rescue
- Seventh-grade winner: Sophie Marcrum of Collierville Middle School, sponsored by Collierville Fire & Rescue
- Fifth-grade winner: Daksha Mohan of Tara Oaks Elementary School in Collierville, sponsored by Collierville Fire & Rescue
- Fourth-grade winner: Kendall Harper of Collierville Elementary School, sponsored by Collierville Fire & Rescue
- Second-grade winner: Emma Taylor of Donelson Elementary School in Arlington, sponsored by the Arlington Fire Department
- First-grade winner: George Hughes of Arlington Elementary School, sponsored by the Arlington Fire Department
- Kindergarten winner: Bryant DaiTara of Oaks Elementary School in Collierville, sponsored by Collierville Fire & Rescue
Winners will be honored at an awards ceremony on Jan. 28 at the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy in Bell Buckle. At the awards ceremony, the poster contest winners will each receive a $50 prize check and a certificate of achievement signed by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.
The poster contest is a longstanding annual event used by the SFMO to highlight and promote fire safety awareness throughout Tennessee schools. This year’s contest theme corresponded with the National Fire Protection Association’s Fire Prevention Week campaign: “Don’t Wait – Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years.”
“We were highly impressed with the poster entries received this year,” said State Fire Marshal and Commerce & Insurance Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak. “The posters not only showcase the talent of our Tennessee students, but also help spread the message that outdated smoke alarms may not function properly and should be replaced. We thank all of the participating students, schools, and fire departments for supporting this annual safety initiative.”
Starting in August, Tennessee students in grades ranging from kindergarten through high school began creating art posters to illustrate the importance of working smoke alarms. Local fire departments sponsored the contest in schools from their districts and judged a winner from each grade. The local winners were then sent to the SFMO for final judging in Nashville. Over 125 poster entries were received this year. A panel of experts who volunteered their time evaluated the entries: Robert Hughes of Murals & More, Justin Makemson of Belmont University and Dani Brown of the Tennessee Arts Commission.
For a look at all of the winning entries and photos of the judges at work, see the poster contest’s Flickr page at https://flic.kr/s/aHskMAarCN.
