Thirteen Brevard County students' posters will be displayed in the 2008 Drug-Free Calendar this year after the winning art was selected from 3,430 submissions this week. The annual contest and event is co-sponsored by State Attorney Norm Wolfinger and Brevard Sheriff Jack Parker.

The winning posters will deck the pages of 33,500 full-color calendars which will be distributed free to all public and private school children in the fifth- through eighth-grade classes, the same classes that participated in the contest. All of the posters present a message focused for their peers on remaining drug- and alcohol-free.

The grand prize winner's poster will appear on the cover of the 2008 Drug-Free Calendar, with each additional winning poster gracing a month on the pages inside. The winning students will be recognized at an awards ceremony held in their honor later this fall. The production is paid for with money recovered during drug arrests.

The judges, a panel of six community leaders, selected first-, second-, and third-place winners from each of the four grades, plus the grand-prize winner.

Sixty-five area schools, both public and private, participated in the project. The Brevard School district is also a partner in the project as are a number of community agencies. This year, five of the winners were from Dr. W. J. Creel Elementary School, two were from Kennedy Middle School, and one each were from Manatee Elementary, Cape View Elementary, Central Middle, Southwest Middle, Jefferson Middle, and DeLaura Middle schools. "This contest is part of one of the most important roles we serve--preventing crime. We attack drug problems on a number of fronts, but prevention is key to the effort. Activities like these ultimately help protect our citizenry and our youth. It warms my heart to see all of these bright colors and sincere messages on these posters. We have a great future ahead of us,'' said State Attorney Wolfinger.

Sheriff Parker and State Attorney Wolfinger praised area teachers for their participation and support of the program.

Judges included Jeff Schweers, Florida Today; Dan Billow, WESH-TV; Andrea Alford, Brevard County School District; Bobbie McMilan, Brevard Museum of Art and Science; Sheriff Parker and State Attorney Wolfinger.

Picture IDs: Judges--(left to right) State Attorney Norm Wolfinger, Andrea Alford, Brevard Sheriff Jack Parker, Jeff Schweers, Bobbie McMilan, and (back row) Dan Billow.

Picture IDs: Voting--(left to right) Sheriff Parker, Andrea Alford, Jeff Schweers, State Attorney Wolfinger, Bobbie McMilan, and Dan Billow. Teresa Maggard, State Attorney's Office coordinator of the program, holds up a poster and the judges cast their ballots by raising their hands.