Hawley School Student Wins

Fire Prevention Poster Contest

By Andrew Gorosko

With crayons in hand and an idea in mind, Tom Cotton, age 9, a fourth grader at Hawley School, has fashioned the winning entry in the town fire marshal’s annual fire prevention poster contest.

Tom, who is the son of Kris and Dan Cotton of Old Farm Hill Road, recently received a $100 savings bond from the fire marshal’s office as an award for his poster promoting residential fire prevention.

Tom’s poster depicted three silhouettes of a house, showing three residential activities requiring fire safety.

The colorful poster reads: “Prevent Home Fires. Smoke Responsibly (Or Not At All). Cook Safely. Heat Carefully. Fire Prevention — Everyone/Everyday.”

The smoking aspect of the poster shows an easy chair aflame after someone has carelessly dropped smoking materials onto its upholstery.

The cooking element of the poster warns against wearing loose-fitting garments while cooking due to the potential fire hazards posed by doing so.

Also, Tom’s poster illustrates the importance of keeping portable heating devices well away from flammable objects.

Deputy Fire Marshal Mike Zilinek said that fire officials selected Tom’s poster as the winning entry because of the graphic clarity of its design, as well as its fire prevention message.

Tom said he enjoys doing art projects such as the fire prevention poster. He said he produced the poster at home with his mother’s help. Tom’s teacher at Hawley School is Melissa Thorpe, who encouraged him to create the poster.

Mr Zilinek said Tom’s poster has been forwarded to a Fairfield County competition for such artworks. Eventually, the best such posters produced by children in the state will be featured as the graphics on the state’s annual fire prevention calendar.

Tom’s father Dan observed, “I’m proud that [Tom] participates in these contests and has done well in them.”

Tom entered another poster contest with the theme of “What I want to be when I grow up.”

In that competition, he depicted his career goal of becoming a statistician, which is his father’s occupation.