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Ahoy, Matey!
Students combine pirates and traffic safety for colorful adventure book

by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

Traffic safety and pirates? Argh, what's the connection?

Students in elementary schools throughout the district managed to link the two just fine as they designed colorful, often elaborate, posters to match the story of "Captain Foghorn's Treasure Hunt." Ten of these drawings were chosen to illustrate the tale in a San Ramon Valley traffic safety storybook written by Dana Mentink and published by the Street Smarts program.

The names were announced at a late afternoon ceremony March 5 at the Dougherty Valley Performing Arts Center, and the book made its debut afterward with stacks of the colorful paperbacks given away. The author and illustrators lined up at a table to autograph them.

Danielle Morelan, a fifth-grader at Sycamore Valley Elementary, had her colorful illustration of a pirate chosen for the cover.

"First I did it with pencil, then I colored over it with marker, then colored pencil on top," Danielle explained.

She said she likes to write and to draw random things.

"I draw dogs a lot," she said. Her family has two dogs - Sadie and Matisse.

Her parents, Tony and Beth, are graphic artists, and her younger brother AJ won in the Street Smarts poster contest last year. Danielle also won last year and had her drawing chosen for that cover, too, to illustrate a book about aliens - and traffic safety - called "Way Out Visitors."

The fifth annual Street Smarts Storybook Poster Contest Awards Ceremony was presented by the Sunset Development Co. The awards were announced by elected officials, and each of the 10 artists for each of the 10 pages went to the stage to receive his or her award, an 8-megapixel digital camera and an art kit. Also tickets were drawn for prizes to Bay Area art galleries and museums.

The drawings for the book were done by:

* Danielle Morelan, grade 5, Sycamore Valley Elementary

* Emily Nguyen, grade 5, Golden View Elementary

* Emma McCarthy, grade 4, Sycamore Valley Elementary

* Lile Rose Otaki Donohue, grade 4, Alamo Elementary

* Megan Lee, grade 1, Coyote Creek Elementary

* Samay Dubey, grade 5, Hidden Hills Elementary

* Anika Rawat, grade 3, Hidden Hills Elementary

* Ashna Gupta, grade 5, Hidden Hills Elementary

* Angela To, grade 5, Golden View Elementary

* Danvielle Mullins, grade 4, John Baldwin Elementary

All of the pictures were on display in the adjoining exhibit hall.

"Captain Foghorn's Treasure Hunt" will be available at the Danville, San Ramon and Dougherty Station libraries and at the Danville, San Ramon and Oak Hill Park community centers.