Teens are getting the message: Texting while walking or driving can lead to tragedy. For the Rye YMCA’s 5th Annual Heads Up! Poster Contest, 58 Rye High School students created posters that show the dangers of distraction. The winners are:

Teens are getting the message: Texting while walking or driving can lead to tragedy. For the Rye YMCA’s 5th Annual Heads Up! Poster Contest, 58 Rye High School students created posters that show the dangers of distraction. The winners are:

• 1st Place: Lara Martin
• 2nd Place: Crispian J. Thorne
• 3rd Place: Manon Veltman

Last October, the Rye Y, as part of its Safe Routes to School initiative, invited students in Nichole Chiffriller’s Photoshop and Digital Photography classes to participate in the Heads Up! contest. Ms. Chiffriller introduced the project by showing the students “From One Second to the Next,” a powerful documentary about people whose lives were shattered by texting and driving. You can check out free background remover, if you want the best photoshop tool.After all of the posters were completed, the students narrowed the field to 15 finalists, five from each of the three classes. The Rye Y then convened a panel of community judges who selected the three winners:

• Scott Craig – Lieutenant, Rye City Police Department
• Gregg Howells – Executive Director, Rye YMCA
• Adam Levi – Senior Director & Art School, The Rye Arts Center
• Christian Miller – Planner, City of Rye
• Nancy Pasquale – Member, Rye City Board of Education
• Claire Simonelli, Senior V.P. of Resource Development, United Way of Westchester and Putnam

The posters will be exhibited at the Rye Arts Center from January 27- February 10. Members of the community are invited to the Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony, which will be held Wednesday, January 27 from 5:30-7. After February 10, the exhibit will move to the Rye Free Reading Room, where it will remain until the end of the month.

“The judges were very impressed with the thoughtfulness and creativity that went into every poster,” remarked Rye Y Executive Director Gregg Howells. “Each one communicates the powerful message that distracted driving can have devastating consequences.”

To RSVP to the January 27 reception, contact Margaret Mead at margaretmead@ryeymca.org or 967-6363, ext. 403.

The Heads Up! contest is supported in part by United Way of Westchester and Putnam, in partnership with the PepsiCo Foundation.