St. Leo The Great 4th Graders Win Monmouth County Poster Contest

LINCROFT, NJ — This spring, all fourth-grade students in Monmouth County were invited to create posters depicting unique aspects of Monmouth County and how they relate to county government.

More than 200 children submitted their artwork (a record number), and from those entries, two students from St. Leo the Great Catholic school in Lincroft were chosen as the first- and second-place winners.

The children and their families were honored Thursday.

The first place winner is Mackenzie Miller of St. Leo the Great. Her poster creatively outlined Monmouth County’s geography and used window flaps to showcase some of the County’s most popular destinations and historic sites.

Avalina Paul of St. Leo the Great took second place for her vibrant and colorful poster illustrating all that Monmouth County has to offer, including its schools, parks and open space.

Third-place winner was Luke Farina of St. Jerome School in West Long Branch; he highlighted Monmouth County’s scenic beaches and historic Sandy Hook lighthouse, while showcasing some of Monmouth's popular summer activities.

Each of the winning posters will be displayed for a period of one month over the coming year at the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office, located at 33 Mechanic St. inFreehold.

Those who received honorable mention include: Peyton B. Afanador of Avon Elementary School in Avon-by-the-Sea; Robbie Krol, III of Indian Hill Elementary School in Holmdel; Madison Manners of West Freehold School in Freehold; Alyssa Marchitello of Swimming River School in Tinton Falls; Charley Piscopo of St. Benedict School in Holmdel; and Joan Marie Casey, Hunter Domanski, Luke Ellis, and Olivia Sidoti of St. Leo the Great in Lincroft.

“The fourth graders’ posters showed not only knowledge of county government, but also imagination and originality,” said Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon. “I congratulate all the students who participated in the contest, especially this year’s winners.”

“After learning about the State of New Jersey in their classroom social studies curriculum, fourth graders from Monmouth County were able to demonstrate their knowledge of county government in a creative way through this poster contest,” said Monmouth County Surrogate Rosemary Peters. “We were so glad to receive a record-breaking number of contest entries this year.”

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