HARTFORD – Attorney General George Jepsen Tuesday thanked middle-school students across Connecticut who participated in a poster contest sponsored by the Office of the Attorney General in recognition of National Consumer Protection Week, March 4-10.

Nearly 70 posters were submitted by fifth-grade classrooms highlighting the theme: “Internet Safety for All: Protecting Yourself Online.” Five winners and five runners-up were chosen last week by a panel of eight judges, including professional artists, art educators and art-organization executives.

“I’m impressed by the quality and creativeness of all the work submitted for this contest,” Attorney General Jepsen said.  “I am even more impressed that our students understand the message of Internet safety and how to protect themselves when they are online.”

The Attorney General will make a presentation to the winning class at a later date. The 10 posters selected by the judges are on display in the State Capitol, south lobby, through this week. The posters may be viewed on the Attorney General’s website,  Poster Winners.

The winning posters were submitted by the students of the following teachers and schools: 1^st place, class of Ms. Watts-St.Germain, Old Saybrook Middle School; 2^nd place, class of Ms. Galante, Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School, New Haven; 3^rd place, class of Mrs. Ursery, Anna E. Norris Elementary School, East Hartford;  4^th place, class of Ms. Lane, Fox Run Elementary School, Norwalk and 5^th place, class of Ms. Dains, Bethlehem Elementary School, Bethlehem.

Also recognized were: 1^st runner-up, class of Mrs. Russo, Frenchtown Elementary School, Trumbull; 2^nd runner-up, class of Mrs. Axtell, Walsh Intermediate School, Branford; 3^rd runner-up, class of Mrs. Grillo, Mitchell Elementary School, Woodbury; 4^th runner-up, class of Mrs. Febbriello, Madison School, Bridgeport; and 5^th runner-up, class of Mrs. Garitty, Bielefield Elementary School, Middletown.

Judging the competition were: Cathy Malloy, chief executive officer of the Greater Hartford Arts Council; Debbie Hesse, director of artistic services for the Arts Council of Greater New Haven; Kip Bergstrom, deputy commissioner, Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development; Francis Rexford Cooley, dean of Paier College of Art in Hamden; Dr. Nancy Stuart, dean of the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford; David Woods, dean of the University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts; Ashleigh Kay, Fine Artist and 2009 Hartford Art School graduate ;  and Tao Labossiere, owner of  FineArtPainting.net, gallery director of Hartford ArtSpace Gallery and a director of Oil Drum Art.

Among the judges’ comments were:

Francis Rexford Cooley: “I was pleased to see so many different ways the participating students were able to express artistically the contest's theme.”

Ashleigh Kay: “The work created addressed the subject matter in an array of thoughtful and creative depictions.  Very impressed with our 5th graders!”

Dr. Nancy Stuart:  “I enjoyed seeing the student's work and was impressed by the creativity expressed within this assignment. Kids have a unique perspective to communicate visually to their peers.”

Cindy Dubuque, director of constituent services, coordinated this effort for the Attorney General with Assistant Attorney General M.G. Alonzo and Merancia Fils, a St. Joseph’s College student serving an internship in the Office of the Attorney General.

Middle schools students are also invited to participate in an essay contest the Attorney General is sponsoring in recognition of Law Day on May 1.  The topic is “Should the government pass a law setting a minimum age for kids to join social networking sites?  Or, should it be left up to parents, kids and/or the social networking sites themselves to determine and enforce age restrictions on joining such sites?  If the government should make the rules, what should be the minimum age?”

The essay competition is open to 8^th grade students. Entries should be no more than two double-spaced pages and submitted to the Office or postmarked by March 28.

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