Fourth grade students at Gallaher Elementary sweep top three spots
DOVER, Del. – Governor John Carney, joined by Chief Information Officer James Collins, Christina School District Superintendent Richard Gregg, and other officials, parents and students from Christina School District, today celebrated the winners of the 2018 “Kids Safe Online” Poster Contest at Gallaher Elementary School. For the first time in the ten year history of the contest there was a complete sweep of winners from the same school. Art teacher Kelly Walzl’s fourth grade students Aubrie Rodriguez, Clayton Starkey, and Catalina Syto placed first, second and third, respectively. These students’ posters were judged to be the best among 1,400 submissions. Gallaher Elementary School has placed in the top three for the last five consecutive years and has two previous national winners.
“The importance of cyber safety cannot be overstated and the ‘Kids Safe Online’ Poster Contest is a creative way to encourage young people to be cautious about what they share on the Internet, teaching them the potential risks,” said Governor John Carney. “Awareness and education are key to ensuring our children know how to stay safe online.”
“I’d like to commend all kids that participated in this year’s contest and a special congratulations to the winners at Gallaher Elementary,” said Chief Information Officer James Collins. “We’re so glad to be able to partner with schools across the entire state to bring cyber security safety presentations and the ‘Kids Safe Online’ Poster Contest to the classroom to engage our young people on their level.”
“Congratulations to these Gallaher students for their outstanding work. Their posters will help spread this important message to their peers across the state,” said Secretary of Education Susan Bunting.
The “Kids Safe Online” poster contest is sponsored on the state level by the Delaware Department of Technology and Information. The program encourages young people to use the Internet safely and securely and engages them in creating messages and images to communicate to their peers the importance of staying safe online. The contest is run in conjunction with cyber safety presentations given in schools across the state in October, which is National Cyber Security Month. Over 1,400 students from fourth and fifth grades across Delaware submitted high quality posters for consideration. The top three state selections were also submitted to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) for entry into its national 2018 Kids Safe Online poster contest.
For more information about how to stay safe online, please visit digiknow.dti.delaware.gov.