Two Jim Thorpe Area students were the winners of a logo contest for the Jim Thorpe National Night Out. The winners were Alaura Gonzalez, 8th grade student of Penn-Kidder, and Josh Guth, 12th grade student of Jim Thorpe Area High School.

National Night Out (NNO) is a crime and drug prevention event that has taken place in communities all over the country. NNO is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness and strengthen relationships between the community and law enforcement.Jim Thorpe will be holding its own National Night Out event on August 7th.The National Night Out event will involve Police, Emergency Services, community organizations, civic organizations, local businesses, and citizens of all ages.The Jim Thorpe NNO Committee held a logo drawing contest for students in grades 4-12, living in the Jim Thorpe Area School District or that attend the Carbon Career and Technical Institute or Marian Catholic High School. Interested students were asked to hand draw a logo that represents the Borough of Jim Thorpe and the meaning of NNO.Mayor Michael Sofranko and NNO committee members presented Gonzalez and Guth as the logo winners to Jim Thorpe Borough Council. As one reward, Gonzalez and Guth have the chance to be "Mayor for the Day.""It's good to see students getting involved in this event and in the community," stated Sofranko.Cindy Henning, one of the NNO coordinators, stated that marketing students from the Carbon Career and Technical Institute will be incorporating the two logos on brochures the students have designed for the event.Communities participating in NNO also take part in Project 365. This project is about the community focusing on an area in the neighborhood that might be a problem area (i.e. having graffiti, trash, crime, etc…) and work on correcting the issue. The project is meant to lead into the communities NNO in August.Seventh and Eighth grade students from St. Joseph's Regional Academy will be working on Project 365. The students will be working to improve Kemmerer Park in Jim Thorpe."Our goal is to get everyone involved in their community. We want to preserve what we have in Jim Thorpe, which is a great community to live," stated Henning.Sofranko and Henning both talked about how the community has come together for NNO. Local businesses, Goldberg Plumbing, Heating & AC and Leztek Systems sponsored the logo contest. Jim Thorpe National Bank also helped support the logo contest. Senator John Yudichak, State Representative Doyle Heffley, and Carbon County Commissioner Thomas Gerhard are also supporting NNO.The Jim Thorpe NNO Committee, which works in correlation with the Jim Thorpe Community Watch, Police Chief Joseph Schatz, and the Jim Thorpe Police Department, has gathered many volunteers from the community, including students."All of this is an awareness to help the community and to maintain a good quality of life," said Sofranko."NNO will get the community involved and show support for our officers," he added.