Rye Y Recognizes Winners of Distracted Walking and Driving Poster Contest

Winning poster

Rye High School students, their parents, and community leaders gathered at the Rye Arts Center on January 24 to recognize the winners of the Rye YMCA’s Heads Up! Distracted Driving and Walking Poster Contest.

The contest, which is part of the Rye Y’s Safe Routes to School initiative, engages Rye High School students in creating posters that illustrate the dangers of distracted walking and driving.

The winners were:
First place: Sophie Magalhaes
Second place: Courtney Lopp
Third place: Sally Eggers

(L to R) Mayor Josh Cohn, Gregg Howells, Danielle Tagger-Epstein, Sally Eggers, Adam Levi, Sophie Magalhaes, Commissioner Michael Corcoran, Courtney Lopp, Nichole Chifriller, Brian Dempsey and Dr. Eric Byrne.

In October 2017, the Rye Y invited students in Nichole Chiffriller’s Photoshop and Digital Photography classes to participate in the Heads Up! contest. Seventy-nine students in four classes participated. After all of the posters were completed, the students narrowed the field to 20 finalists. The Rye Y then convened a panel of community judges who selected the three winners. The judges were:

Dr. Eric Byrne – Superintendent, Rye City Schools
Josh Cohn – Mayor, City of Rye
Michael C. Corcoran, Jr. – Commissioner of Public Safety
Brian Dempsey – Chairman, City of Rye Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Committee
Danielle Tagger-Epstein – Rye City Council
Gregg Howells – Executive Director, Rye YMCA
Adam Levi – Senior Director, The Rye Arts Center
Christian Miller – Rye City Planner
Ilana R. Wagner – Associate Transportation Planner, Westchester County Department of Transportation

The reception was also an occasion to view all of the posters, which will be on display at the Rye Arts Center until February 23. Commissioner Corcoran presented the gift cards to each of the winners, commending them for their creativity and public safety message. Several of the judges, including Mayor Cohn, Dr. Byrne, Ms. Tagger-Epstein, Mr. Levi, Mr. Dempsey and Mr. Howells, were also on hand to congratulate all of the students who participated in this important assignment.