Knights of Columbus announce the winners of the state poster contest

Intermountain Catholic

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SALT LAKE CITY — Every year the Knights of Columbus councils across Utah hold local Substance Abuse Awareness poster contests for young people in their parishes or schools. The categories are alcohol abuse awareness and drug abuse awareness. Each category has two age groups, 8–11 and 12–14. Winning posters move on to the state contest.

"The Knights of Columbus State Poster Contest brings awareness of drug and alcohol abuse to students via their artwork," said Robert E. Masse Jr., the fraternal organization’s state deputy.

This year, the poster contest also included the "Keep Christ in Christmas" category. This category was introduced because "Christmas has become for many – especially children – a secular holiday," reads in the Knights of Columbus web page.

To combat this, the Knights of Columbus has introduced the "Keep Christ in Christmas" poster contest, which allows young people to engage their creative talents and imaginations while understanding the true, spiritual meaning of Christmas.

"The judging criteria include clarity of message, quality of artwork, composition, and the impact of the message," said Andy Airriess, the Utah Knights state treasurer.

Each year hundreds of Utah children participate in the poster contest, and "from this step, our winning posters will go on to international judging at our headquarters in New Haven, Conn., where they will be judged against other winners from around the world," said Airriess.

This year the state winners were:

Age 8-11 Alcohol Awareness and Abuse: Dax McPartland, Holy Family Parish

Age 8-11 Drug Awareness and Abuse: Omar Aljaafan, St. Francis Xavier Parish

Age 12-14 Drug Awareness and Abuse: Sophie Robertson, St. Francis Xavier Parish

Age 12-14 Alcohol Awareness and Abuse: Laura Mackkelson, St. John the Baptist Parish

Christ in Christmas: Angelina Todaro, St. John the Baptist Parish