Students invited to enter art contest

Youths who reside in Chester County are invited to take part in a student art competition being presented by the Chester County's Sheriff's Office. As part of the contest, themed "Law Enforcement in the Community," students in kindergarten through grade 12 are invited to create an original piece of art to show their appreciation for law enforcement.

According to the rules of the first-time competition, students may use pencil, ink, markers, colored pencils or paint to create their work. The three winners, which will be determined by a panel of judges from the department, will receive a certificate of recognition, a photo with Chester County sheriff Kevin D. Dykes and a tour of his office, as well as a gift basket filled with art supplies.

The idea for the contest came from Noah Stribrny, who was named command staff liaison of the sheriff's office in May. As part of the newly created position, Stribrny's job includes public outreach.

"One of our priorities is to increase community engagement," he said. "We thought (the contest) would be a good way to increase engagement with youth since school is out and (deputies from the sheriff's department) can't get into the schools to interact with the students during the summer."

For the upcoming contest, Stribrny said that students can use their own creativity to come up with original ideas. "They can (portray) a sheriff deputy, a police officer or a detective, or they could (portray) a police officer helping someone cross the street," he stated. "It's entirely up to the students. We want to give them that option to be as creative as possible."

"(I'm sure) we will get a lot of good drawings; there are a lot of talented students out there," he added.

Stribrny said the contest is the first step in his goal to develop strong relationships between law enforcement and the community, particularly youths. "Once the school year is back up, we want to get in as many schools as possible, do workshops and interact with youths," he stated. "It's a great opportunity. As a former schoolteacher, it's a personal thing for me to get deputies in the schools as much as possible."

Other efforts include holding "Cupcakes with Cops," where officers would meet the public and be available to answer questions and provide information. The next scheduled event will be in August in West Chester with members of the West Chester Borough Police Department. "We are trying to show that law enforcement (personnel) can be personable," Stribrny noted. "Sometimes the first interaction may not be positive if you get pulled over ... but we are not always there to be the bad guy."

For more information about the contest and to submit artwork, visit http://www.chesco.org/5569/Student-Art-Competition or http://www.facebook.com/ccsopa. Art can also be emailed to nstribrny@chesco.org. The deadline for submission is Thursday, July 25.