By David Karas |  Correspondent

Another type of election took place this November.

Parishioners of St. Denis Parish, Manasquan, were given the opportunity to vote for the monthly images for the 2015 parish calendar – images created by youth in the school and parish religious education program based on monthly religious themes.

“It is a great community event,” says Linda Wynd, director of advancement in St. Denis School. “All of the children get involved, and the parishioners are the ones voting on the pictures. Everybody is involved.”

This year’s calendar contest, the second installment of the annual initiative, challenged school and parish children from pre-K through eighth grades to create pictures based on set monthly themes and divided by grade level.

Children from Pre-K through second grades could focus on images for March (St. Patrick), June (Noah’s Ark), September (Jonah and the Whale) or December (Christmas). Those in the third through the fifth grades could submit an image for February (St. Valentine), May (Blessed Virgin Mary), August (David and Goliath) or November (Thanksgiving). And finally, students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades could choose from January (Magi), April (Easter), July (Moses) or October (St. Denis).

Wynd said the more than 130 pictures that were submitted were hung in the church gathering space and voted on by parishioners. This year’s group of winners was chosen to be evenly divided from among school and parish youth.

“They get very excited about it,” said Wynd. “It is just a great way to have children think about different Bible stories or Holy Days, and then have the families vote on them.”

This year was the first year that the competition was divided into the three age categories, something that Wynd said was an improvement.

“It made for a better competition,” she said. “Younger kids were competing with younger children.”

Winners will see their images featured in the new parish calendar, and also were presented with $25 gift cards.

Jaclyn Finn, a second-grade religious education student, won for her drawing of the Birth of Jesus – an image inspired by photos that she has seen on various Christmas cards.

“I felt surprised, happy and proud,” she said, talking about how it felt to learn that her artwork would be included in the calendar.

Sixth-grade religious education student Nicole Damiano submitted an image of the Magi for her calendar entry. She said that she was inspired after reading about their experiences.

“It feels great to have my artwork in the calendar,” she said. “There were a lot of excellent drawings and it was a nice surprise seeing mine on the wall of St. Denis School.”

Emily Scranton, a seventh grader in St. Denis School, won for her depiction of Moses. The topic resonated with her because she finds it to be one of the most interesting Bible stories. And Michael Trilli, a fifth grader, won for his drawing of hearts and flowers in the spirit of Valentine’s Day for the February image.

While the calendars will be distributed free of charge to the parish community, Wynd says that the parish requests a $5 donation to help offset the printing costs.