United States Attorney’s Office Announces 17th Annual Project Safe Neighborhoods Logo Contest Winners

COLUMBIA, South Carolina --- United States Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr., announced today the winners of the United States Attorney’s Office’s 17th Annual Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Logo Contest.

The theme of this year’s contest was “Preventing Gun Violence in Our Schools.” Judges sought logos that demonstrated a successful collaboration between schools, communities, and law enforcement to reflect (1) warning signs that students should be looking for related to gun violence; (2) resources to help students who have concerns about gun violence; and (3) general messages to prevent gun violence in South Carolina schools.

“Student voices are critical in the discussion about reducing gun violence and ensuring school safety,” said U.S. Attorney McCoy. “I want to thank all the students and schools who participated in this year’s logo contest, and I congratulate our winners.”

The overall winning logo will be used in publications distributed statewide and displayed on the United States Attorney’s Office website. The winner from each grade division and overall winner are named below:

Winner K-2nd grade Division/OVERALL WINNER

Jackson Cornell, Ocean Drive Elementary School

North Myrtle Beach, SC

Winner 3rd-5th grade Division

Edward “EJ” Prince, Ocean Drive Elementary School

North Myrtle Beach, SC

Winner 6th-8th grade Division

Abigail Shoemake, Lugoff-Elgin Middle School

Lugoff, SC

Winner 9th-12th grade Division

Abigail Chapman, Digital Art and Design-Golden Strip Career Center

Greenville, SC

The winners were chosen from entries submitted by applicants across the entire state. Each division winner will receive a $50.00 award, and the overall winner, Jackson Cornell, will receive an additional $50.00 award. All students who participated will receive a Certificate of Appreciation for their submissions.

This statewide contest fosters an opportunity for South Carolina students to express their thoughts on preventing gun violence in our schools and focuses on deterrence of juvenile gun violence and securing our school environments. The contest was open to all South Carolina grade school students.

The winning entries were chosen by a select group of young leaders at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice who act as role models for the other youth throughout the entire department. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers’ Association Foundation will provide the cash awards to the winners.

The annual logo contest is a long-running part of the district’s PSN program. PSN focuses on reducing violent crime in our communities through prevention, enforcement, and reentry initiatives. The annual logo contest is an important prevention initiative that has proven to be an effective way to engage our students in meaningful conversation about preventing gun crimes amongst our young people and ensuring a safe learning atmosphere for our children. For more information on the contest and to view this year’s winning logos and winning logos from previous years, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/sc/programs/logowinners.html.