Forest Hills student art featured in drug-free calendar

Two Cambria County fifth graders were among 13 students statewide whose artwork was selected for the state attorney general’s 2020 drug-free calendar.

Alena Myers, Cali Ross and the other contest winners were invited to Harrisburg on Dec. 11 for a luncheon with Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Mike Vereb, the attorney general’s director of government affairs. Each of the winning students received a certificate and a $529 contribution to their Pennsylvania 529 College Savings Program, which is supervised by the Pennsylvania Treasury Department.

Both girls attend Forest Hills Elementary School in Sidman. Ross’s design was chosen for the calendar’s cover page, and Myers’s drawing was selected to accompany the May calendar.

Submissions for the contest were sent in by 1,042 fifth-grade students from 157 schools across 49 counties in Pennsylvania. The 13 winning entries were based on the artists’ creativity and ability to illustrate and convey a drug-free message.

“Our annual calendar contest is about students empowering other young people to make smart choices,” Shapiro said. “Combatting the opioid epidemic is my number one priority and we need a multi-pronged approach, including education, to prevent drug use. Children must learn about the real dangers of substance abuse and the benefits of being drug free. The calendar contest helps spread these messages throughout Pennsylvania.”

The calendar contest is funded through the Community Drug Abuse Prevention Fund. Fines and penalties collected from certain offenses, such as driving under the influence, contribute to the fund.