The Naperville Police Department, along with Naperville School District 203, Indian Prairie School District 204, and some private schools, recently celebrated the students whose artwork was selected for the 2025-26 Crime Prevention Calendar.
Elementary students submit artwork on safety themes
Each year in November, the police department invites elementary students from District 203, District 204, and participating private schools to submit artwork for their yearly calendars. Pamela George, one of the crime prevention specialists with the NPD who heads this process, explained that students have the freedom to be creative with their submissions, while remaining focused on messages of safety.
“We asked them to consider the safety themes that we talked to them about in the classes that we teach, third, fourth, fifth and in some cases sixth grade classes,” George said, “and then asked them to illustrate what that meant to them and how that might look illustrated in a drawing or a picture in some way.”
George said they got in about 250 submissions this year, sent from kindergarteners to fifth graders. Those included depictions of “stranger danger,” stopping pollution, and online safety.
Naperville 203 students who contributed to this year’s Crime Prevention Calendar. Image courtesy: Naperville Police Department
Calendar marks city-wide effort for crime prevention
This year marked the 39th edition of the calendar, which began in 1986. George says the initial goal for the project was to encourage Naperville residents of all ages to keep the city safe, with the calendar serving as a physical reminder of this collaboration.
“We’re trying to help kids understand and and really embrace the idea that they are proactive in crime prevention and they have control about keeping themselves more safe,” George said. “And I think that’s powerful that our young community is reminded of that, and embraces that, and gets so actively involved. [The kids] see it, rather than something that might frighten them, but something that they contribute to, that that makes the city, because of them, much more safe.”
Winning artwork distributed in school calendars
Judging of the artwork occurs in April, with Naperville Police Department members and district representatives voting on the winning pieces. The artists are anonymous during the judging process.
Both school districts and the private schools have their own calendars with artwork featured by students in their schools. For each of the three calendars, 12 to 15 pieces of student art are selected.
The 23,000 finished calendars are distributed to schools in August for the following school year.
Indian Prairie School District 204 students who contributed to this year’s Crime Prevention Calendar. Image courtesy: Naperville Police Department
October ceremony celebrates student artists
At the October 14 ceremony, Naperville Chief of Police Jason Arres and Mayor Scott Wehrli congratulated the students on being selected for the calendar and commended them for helping to spread the word about city safety.
“We’re reminding young and old that they, too, are a part of this collaborative effort,” George said. “So the heart and the soul of it has always been about, ‘We do this together.’ And that’s what makes Naperville the crime prevention city that it is.”
Featured image: Private school students who contributed to this year’s Crime Prevention Calendar. Image courtesy: Naperville Police Department
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