Earlier this month, we were honored to co-sponsor the Fire Safety Art Contest for the 17th year in Roanoke and 14th year in Harrisonburg. Each year, we invite elementary and middle school students to showcase their creative talents on a fire safety theme. For 2022, the theme was: Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape.  

In Harrisonburg, this year had record-breaking participation, with nearly 250 pieces of art submitted. While most submissions were drawings or paintings, a new category for the competition: stop-motion videos was introduced. All of the students demonstrated an astute understanding of the topic, and the artwork was a testament to the passion of each artist. Selecting the winners was an incredibly difficult decision. 

Roanoke Fire-EMS and Harrisonburg Fire Departments each hosted an awards banquet for the winners, with a delicious meal and award prizes given to each winner.

But now, for the moment you have all been waiting for…

Here are the winners from Harrisonburg:

Kindergarten 

1st- Gabriela Sanchez Canizares (WES); 2nd- Mathias Rivera Santana (WES); 3rd- Marlow Shradley (WES); Honorable Mention- Carter Woods (WES)

1st Grade

1st- Theo Domingus (SSES); 2nd- Ryan Huynh (WES); 3rd- Ellery Laguarda (WES); Honorable Mention- Lianna Kakki (WES)

2nd Grade 

1st – Jubal Wingfield (WES); 2nd- Kathleen Aju (WES); 3rd- Abby Liguori (WES) ; Honorable Mention- Maryem Al Khafaji (SSES)

3rd Grade

1st- Celeste Bustillos (WES); 2nd- Vanessa Parham (Smithland); 3rd- Jonah Domingus (SSES); Honorable Mention- Ari Showalter (WES)

4th Grade 

*1st- Jaden Campbell, Tristen Self, Milad Salim, & Gabriel Kelly (Minnick Upper Elementary); 2nd- Ivy Hostetler (WES); 3rd- Sylvia Godshall (WES); Honorable Mention- Allison Bravo (WES)

5th Grade

1st- Nola Trotter (WES); 2nd- Vienna Poole (WES); 3rd- Mia Tyler (Smithland); Honorable Mention- Asher Domingus (SSES)

Middle School 

1st- Delaney Kauffman (Eastern Mennonite School); 2nd- Emme Davis (THMS); 3rd- Benjamin Fletchall (Eastern Mennonite School)

Video 

*1st- Nicole Serna-Gonzalez, Suzie Holsopple, Georgia Browne (KES); 2nd- Julianna Miller (KES); 3rd- Braelyn Clark, Elena Briones, Grace Holsopple (KES); Honorable Mention- Tinsley Janney and McKenna Riner (KES) 

*Chief’s Award recipients. These lucky students will get to ride in the fire truck driven by Chief Tobia.

And the winners from Roanoke:

Grades K-2

First Place – Muhanna Babiker, RAMS; Second Place – Dayah Dungee, Fairview; Third Place Lyric Patterson, Grandin Court

Grades 3-5

First Place – Genesis Mendoza Portillo, Preston Park; Second Place – Kiya Mohamud, RAMS; Third Place – Adrian Agosto, Morningside

Middle School

First Place – Piper Lynch, James Madison; Second Place – Calan Johnson, James Madison; Third Place – Ruby Kahoun, James Madison

Additional Awards

Chief’s Choice – Kiya Mohamud, RAMS

Fire Marshal’s Choice – Layla Vasquez, Breckinridge MS

Honorable Mention – Ava Lewis-Wright, Monterey ES; Honorable Mention – Ivy Prim, Highland Park ES; Honorable Mention – Amarius Whorley, Fairview ES; Honorable Mention – Jameray Willis, Lucy Addison MS; Honorable Mention – Layla Young, Woodrow Wilson MS; Honorable Mention – Emma Dipalma, Garden City ES; Honorable Mention – Nawal Haroun, Fallon Park ES

From all of us at Rockingham Insurance, thank you to all the participants, the Harrisonburg Fire Department, Harrisonburg City Public Schools, Roanoke Fire EMS Department, Roanoke Public Schools, and more, for helping us to spread fire safety awareness. Every year, we are blown away by the talent and enthusiasm from the youth in our communities.

If you’d like to see all the entries, we shared a slideshow of the Harrisonburg City Public Schools’ awards banquet via our YouTube channel, and for the entries from Roanoke County Public Schools, you can check out this video, courtesy of the Roanoke FireEMS Department.