KILLINGTON, Vermont ??” killington Resort recently announced the winners of the annual NSAA “HEADS UP” National Safety Awareness Week poster contest. Local elementary school students participated in the event that took place January 15-21.

“The creativity and imagination expressed in this year’s posters are very impressive,” said Anne Snyder, of the Killington human resource department. “The contest acts as a fun and unique way to focus on the importance of safety awareness for skiers and snowboarders.”

Hannah Sihler of Sherburne Elementary School won the Best Overall Safety Message, and the runner-up was Olivia Cacciatore from Castleton Elementary School. Andrew Becker from Sherburne Elementary School won the Most Creative Design category and the runner-up in this category was Patrick DuBois from Sherburne Elementary School. To view the winning pieces of artwork go to www.killington.com and click on Safety Awareness.

Each winner received his or her choice of a ski or snowboard package, while the runners-up were awarded gift cards to be redeemed at any Killington retail location. This year’s contest challenged students to create posters that illustrated one point of “Your Responsibility Code” or “Smart Style”. “Your Responsibility Code” outlines seven rules for safe skiing and snowboarding and “Smart Style” communicates three rules for freestyle terrain safety.

The mission of the poster contest is to promote skier and rider safety awareness and education to elementary school children and to support classroom curriculum related to sports, health and safety while offering kids a chance to be creative.

The 4 individual winners and runners-up were selected from a field of almost 100 entries. Killington’s two winning posters will go on to compete in the NSAA national contest.