Keep Christ in Christmas

In a society where Christmas has become for many - especially children - a secular holiday. To combat this, the Knights of Columbus has introduced the Keep Christ in Christmas poster contest. This program - similar to the Substance Abuse Awareness Poster Contest - will allow young people to engage their creative talents and imaginations while understanding the true, spiritual meaning of Christmas.

Entries in the Knights of Columbus “Keep Christ in Christmas” Poster contest must include a slogan reflecting the topic and an original visual image.

Eligibility

The Knights of Columbus “Keep Christ in Christmas” Poster Contest is open to all young people between the ages of 5 and 14.

Age Groups

Contest entrants compete in one of three age groups—ages 5 through 7, ages 8 through 10, and 11 through 14. Some schools may have different age brackets for their elementary and middle schools. In these cases it may be appropriate to group students by grade rather than age. Sponsoring councils should use their own judgment in deciding how to group participants. (Each local, district, regional or state competition may have up to 6 winning entries – first, and second place winners in each age group.)

Contest Levels

Council level- This is the first level of the competition. Council officials should order the program kit (#CPC-Kit) by calling 203-752-4270 or visiting kofc.org/forms, promote the contest and contact schools to participate. The winning posters from the council level competition are forwarded to either the district deputy or state council personnel, depending on the circumstances in your area. District level- The district level of the contest occurs ONLY if more than one council in the district participates in the “Keep Christ in Christmas” Poster contest. Check with your district deputy to see if this is the case in your area. The winning posters for this level of the contest are forwarded to state program personnel for either the regional or state competition. Check with your state poster contest chairman or youth director for the forwarding address and deadline for entries.

Regional/State- The regional level of competition usually only takes place in larger jurisdictions. In either case, scheduling, judges and prizes are provided by the state council. Winning posters at the state level should be sent to the Supreme Council Department of Fraternal Missions, 1 Columbus Plaza, New Haven, CT 06510-3326. Telephone (203)752-4270.

Rules:

Poster must reflect the theme of Keep Christ in Christmas
Each poster should be the original work (including concept, layout, slogan and any visual images)
Poster must be approximately 11x17 inches in size. If pastels, chalk or charcoal are used the poster must be laminated or covered with clear plastic.
Each poster must be submitted with the Knights of Columbus "Keep Christ in Christmas" Poster contest entry form - make sure your council number is included. The name and age of the entrant should be printed on the reverse side of the poster in case the poster and entry form get seperated.
All entries become property of the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council. Posters will not be returned.

Judging

Judging teams should be composed of students, Knights, teachers, administrators, council Chaplain, pastor, etc. A 100-point scoring system will be used to determine the winners.

Slogan-30 points: How clearly is the theme presented?

Visuals-30 points: How well do the visuals convey the message?

Overall Impact-40 points: How effective was the poster in capturing your attention and causing you to reflect on the topic at hand?

Timetable

Local councils should be ordering their kits by November 1st to be ready to present the contest in November. Posters should be completed by December 15, and the council judging should take place by December 31.

District: Mid January
Regional: End of January
State: Mid February
International-State councils must submit their entries no later than February 28th, International winners will be announced approximately March 15th.

Tell Us About Your Programs

Help us improve the Service Program activities offered by the Supreme Council office by sending reports on your council’s successful activities and/or any suggestions you may have on improving our programs. Send this information to Fraternal Mission, Service Program Suggestions, 1 Columbus Plaza, New Haven, CT 06510-3326 or contact us. Please include “Service Program Suggestions” in the subject line.

Action Steps
Support Materials
Past Winners

Action Steps

Keep the True Meaning of Christmas Present in Council Holiday Activities.

Conducting a Knights of Columbus “Keep Christ in Christmas” Poster Contest is an excellent way to get the young people of your community thinking about the true meaning of Christmas.

Fun because of the opportunity to witness the creativity and optimism of the young people in your community.
Easy because you can tap into existing structures like schools, CYO's, Squires circles, etc., to do a lot of preliminary work. It can also provide excellent local, and potentially International, publicity for the council.

These are the steps/tips in conducting a poster contest:

The first step is to organize your contest. The council’s youth activities director, in consultation with the grand knight, should select a team that will administer the contest. This team will be involved in all phases of the contest: organization, publicity, judging, prizes, etc. Columbian Squires circles should work with their sponsoring councils in conducting the contest. The council should be “ready to go” right before Thanksgiving, so that the participants can get right to work. A suggested time frame would be for the participants to complete working on their art work by December 15th, with the judging at the local level to take place by end of December. District judging should take place by mid January, with state winners chosen by the end of January. Entries for the international level of competition must be received at the Supreme Council office by February 15th. International winners would be announced in March. Once the team is in place, the next step is to contact all schools, both public and private, in your community to publicize your contest. Solicit the support of the teachers and administrators; ask them to encourage their students to participate. Teachers, school administrators and most importantly young people can serve as judges, as can K of C officials. Each entry should be the work of an individual student. Schools can use the contest as a project for art classes.

If there are multiple schools participating, consider conducting preliminary judging. In this way, the people in the community that you ask to serve as judges, which should include young people, will not be overburdened with a volume of posters, and the judging process will proceed more quickly.

Display promotional materials prominently. The posters included in the Poster Contest kit should be displayed in any school from which students would participate, as well as youth centers, church halls, libraries, Boys & Girls Clubs, skating rinks, shopping centers, YMCA & YWCA buildings, and the council hall. On the poster, indicate the name of the council contact person and a telephone number to call for additional information. Additional posters are available free of charge from the Supreme Council office.

Build public interest in the contest. Use the sample press release to announce your contest to local newspapers and through radio announcements. Placing the promotional posters in prominent places around town will also accomplish this.

Outline the criteria for your judges to use in rating the entries. The goal of this program is to create/increase awareness among young people about the true meaning of Christmas encouraging them to speak to other youngsters “in their own language” to address the issues. Meet with your judges in advance of the judging process so that all are “on the same page” regarding what to look for in a winning entry. Recognize everyone participating by presenting participation certificates to all who submit entries, and council champion certificates to your council’s winners. Encourage each school to develop some type of recognition for the winning entries in that particular school.

Support Materials

PSAs (Public Service Announcements)

The Supreme Council office will forward PSAs to program directors or radio and television stations for use during the holiday season. However, PSAs are most frequently used when a personal appeal is made, and copies delivered directly to station managers.

Title	Station	Format
Remember ... it's CHRISTmas	Television	DVD / Beta
Need	Radio	CD
Getting or Giving	Radio	CD
Merry What?	Radio	CD
Click on any of the radio titles above to hear the radio ads or right-click and choose 'Save target as...' on the PC, 'Save Link as...' on the Mac, to save to your computer.

The Supreme Council has various posters that councils can use throughout their community to promote keeping Christ in Christmas. In addition to these posters, public service announcements for radio and television are available for use on local and cable acess stations.

Printed Materials
Item	Form #
"Remember It’s CHRISTmas" Poster	5026
Kit Order Form (Fillable)	CPC-Kit
Entry Form	5025
Program Guide	5024
Participation Form (Fillable)	5023
Participation Certificate	5028
Winner Certificate	5022

Supreme Council Contact Information

When ordering materials, please use the online request form when available, or mail or fax a Requisition Form (#1) to the respective department.

Orders made online or faxed in should not be mailed in, as it may result in a duplicate order. Please allow four weeks to ensure delivery by the event.

Department	Postal Service	Telephone / Fax


Supply Department	Knights of Columbus P.O. Box 1670 New Haven, CT 06507	Tel: 203-752-4214 Fax: 800-266-6340
Department of Fraternal Mission	Knights of Columbus 1 Columbus Plaza New Haven, CT 06510	Tel: 203-752-4270 Fax: 203-752-4108

Past Winners

2015-2016 KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS WINNERS

The 2015-2016 Keep Christ in Christmas Poster Contest proved to be one of the more popular programs sponsored by councils this year, with over 19,000 children participating. Below is a list of the 2015 winners, their local councils and locations. To view the winning posters, please use the links below.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the program and for promoting the true meaning of Christmas to the youth of our society. If you have any questions or recommendations for next year's contest, please contact the Department of Fraternal Services at 203-752-4571.

11-14-Year-Olds

8-10-Year Olds

5-7-Year-Olds

1st Place - View
Sophia Ramos
Council 475
Jersey City, New Jersey

1st Place - View
Malvin Vu
Council 6756
Tega Cay, South Carolina

1st Place - View
Adrienne Seiwell
Council 8613
Conyngham, Pennsylvania

Runner Up - View
Thomas Stauffer
Council 2427
Colora, Maryland

Runner Up - View
Evelyn Ann Mazur
Council 12422
West Des Moines, Iowa

Runner Up - View
Makenzi Shanahan
Council 3305
Essex, Ontario

Runner Up - View
Siree Cofta
Council 4706
Brown Deer, Wisconsin

Runner Up - View
Zoey Jambrovic
Council 1454
Hamilton, Ontario

Runner Up - View
Ava Azeline Chaisson
Council 5013
Chauvin, Louisiana

2014-2015 Keep Christ in Christmas Winners

The 2014-2015 Keep Christ in Christmas Poster Contest was a great success with over 14,000 children participating throughout the Order. Below is a list of Christmas 2014 winners, their local councils, and locations. To view the winning posters, please use the links below.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the program and for promoting the true meaning of Christmas to the youth of our society. If you have any questions or recommendations for next year’s contest, please contact the Department of Fraternal Services at (203) 752-4571.

Use the Links on the left side of this page to access more information on the Knights of Columbus Keep Christ in Christmas Poster Contest.

11-14-Year-Olds	8-10-Year-Olds	5-7-Year-Olds
1st Place - View Sophie Babin Council 13819 Gray, Louisiana	1st Place - View Annalise Schuck Council 4921 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1st Place - View Trevor Cava Council 4242 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Runner Up - View Christelinda Laureijs Council 2916 Amherst, Nova Scotia	Runner Up - View Natasha Hendra Council 7599 Edmonton, Alberta	Runner Up - View Ashley Jeannine Castillo Council 7907 Renton, Washington
Runner Up - View Ruby Rodrigues Council 3428 Lyndhurst, New Jersey	Runner Up - View Elise Maureen Leturno Council 15154 Lecano, Florida	Runner Up - View Derek Hetzel Council 1964 West Band, Wisconsin

2013-2014 Keep Christ in Christmas Winners

Fraternal year 2013-2014 was the first year of the Keep Christ in Christmas Poster Contest and it was a success with over 1,000 children participating throughout the Order. Below is a list of Christmas 2013 winners, their local councils, and locations. To view the winning posters, please use the links below.

Use the links on the left side of this page to access more information on the Knights of Columbus Keep Christ in Christmas Poster Contest.

11-14-Year-Olds	8-10-Year-Olds	5-7-Year-Olds
1st Place - View Madeline Morales Council 10948 Hillsborough, California	1st Place - View Gabrielle Brisloin Council 5750 Woodbridge, Virginia	1st Place - View Andrew Fiondella Council 6801 Northford, Connecticut
Runner Up - View Zoe Davis-Luizer Council 4050 North Hampton, Virginia	Runner Up - View Charlotte Bradley Council 2952 Hammond, Virginia	Runner Up - View Victoria Schneider Council 3849 Great Mills, Maryland
Runner Up - View Nhyira Nartey Council 5750 Woodbridge, Virginia	Runner Up - View Ariana Fiondella Council 6801 Northford, Connecticut	Runner Up - View Lia Villa Council 6392 Marlboro, New Jersey