Petersburg Pilot -

Every student at Petersburg High School was served up ice cream sundays before lunch on Wednesday, much to the delight of state and school officials.

The gathering was in honor of sophomore Diane Murph's poster for the state's Choose Respect campaign.

“Diane's poster is beautiful, very colorful. The governor chose it to represent the state,” said Alaska's First Lady Sandy Parnell.

Orin Pierson

PHS sophomore Diane Murph, alongside Alaska’s first lady Sandra Parnell, proudly displays her poster, winner of the statewide poster contest for the governor’s “Choose Respect” program.

The poster, which reads “Respect Pass It On” was chosen from a number of entries from 30 schools in the state to promote awareness of and to end domestic violence, teen dating violence and child sexual assault.

Murph's poster is a combination of graffiti-styled lettering framed by doodles and uplifting sayings.

Murph found out about the state-wide contest in the school's newsletter. Her submission was inspired by many different things, she said.

She found out that her poster was chosen via video conference call, she said. “I was very, very surprised,” Murph, 16, said. She added that she hopes her artwork will inspire others to respect themselves and stop domestic violence.

Rich Owens, owner of Tasty Freeze ice cream got involved at the governor's request. He said he was happy to bring ice cream to the Petersburg students.

Boxes of the posters will be sent out to various locations around the state to promote the Choose Respect campaign. This is the first year for such a contest. According to Parnell, it won't be the last.