The thirteen Seminole County students whose posters will be displayed in the 2008 Drug-Free Calendar will pose in front of the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center this Wednesday for a group photo with State Attorney Norm Wolfinger, Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger, and Seminole School Superintendent Bill Vogel.

The photo, which will also include the grand prize winner of the Drug-Free Essay, will grace the inside cover of the calendar which will be distributed to more than 20,000 school children before the first of the year. The winning posters were selected from 2,002 entries coming from 35 public and private schools in Seminole County last week. The annual contest and event is co-sponsored by the State Attorney's Office, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, and the Seminole County Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

The winning posters, reproduced in full color, will deck the pages of the 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. Additionally, the winning essay will run full-length in the calendar. All of the posters and the essay present a message created by the young artists that focuses on remaining drug- and alcohol-free.

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 and through community donations.

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

This year, four of the winners were from Rock Lake Middle School, including the grand prize winning poster which will be on the cover. Two winning students were from Teague Middle and the remaining winning students were from Rainbow Elementary, Wilson Elementary, Highlands Elementary, Milwee Middle, Lawton Chiles Middle, Indian Trails Middle, and Millennium Middle schools. The winning essayist is from Sanford Middle School.

"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.

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