Art, poetry student winners in calendar contest announced

Volunteer judges selected an art submission from Pacetti Bay Middle School eighth-grader Nivedita Girish Menon and a poem written by Fruit Cove Middle School sixth-grader Deara Chen as the first-place winners in the 2027 Day Without Violence Art and Poetry Calendar Contest, sponsored each year by the Betty Griffin Center.

Second place winners were Alya Faris, a 10th-grade student at Bartram Trail High School (for art) and Eva Riley, an eighth grader at Fruit Cove Middle School (for poetry).

The top 12 student artworks and poems will be featured in the calendar, with 3,500 distributed among county schools next year and sold at the two thrift shoppes operated by Betty Griffin Center. Contest winners will also have their artwork displayed throughout October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Students receiving honorable mention include:

Art

• Emiliia Sahadyna, grade 5, Millcreek Academy

• Aubrey Kemp, grade 7, Freedom Crossing Academy

• Lauren Rice, grade 8, Freedom Crossing Academy

• Naomika Girish Menon, grade 2, Wards Creek Elementary

• James Hill, grade 8, Freedom Crossing Academy

• Griffin Dagostino, grade 7, Freedom Crossing Academy

• Siyan Zhao, grade 10, Bartram Trail Hight School

• Jemma Kotula, grade 9, Bartram Trail Hight School

• Mariana, grade 10, St Augustine High School

• Leila Saunders, grade 7, Freedom Crossing Academy

• Hannah Singletary, grade 9, Pedro Menendez High School

Poetry

• Puneeth Yerra, grade 8, Fruit Cove Middle School

• Shradda Nambiar, grade 12, Ponte Vedra High School

• Jada Jackson, grade 10, St Augustine High School

• Mudil Nair, grade 8, Fruit Cove Middle School

• Driola Collaku, grade 8, Fruit Cove Middle School

• Ciyan Gholmieh, grade 7, Millcreek Academy

• Evelyn Christine Sepplefrick, grade 7, Home School 

• David Piekarsky, grade 8, Fruit Cove Middle School

• Jaxson Farmer, grade 8, Fruit Cove Middle School

• Daniela Jimenez, grade 11, Ponte Vedra High School

The contest was open to all St. Johns County students in kindergarten through 12th grade, whether they attended public school, private school or were home-schooled. First-place winners receive $50, second-place winners receive $25 and all students receiving honorable mentions receive $10 each, along with a certificate and a copy of the calendar. Students will also be recognized at the St. Johns County School Board meeting in October.

“We want to thank those who volunteered to go through more than 1,000 submissions to choose our winners, local artists Dara Dodson and Jenna Alexander, who judged the artwork, and our poetry judge, Kristin Paul,” said Betty Griffin Center CEO Kelly Franklin. “Also, we want to recognize teachers Ms. Waldman (Millcreek Academy), Kathryn Frericks (Freedom Crossing Middle School), Karen Feeser (Ponte Vedra High) and Debbie Doemel (Fruit Cove Middle School) … who each received a prize for encouraging their students to participate and submitting the most entries.”

The contest was launched by the nonprofit agency in 2000 in partnership with the St. Johns County School District to encourage healthy relationships and prevent violence throughout the county.