For the last month, commuters throughout Montgomery County had the opportunity to sample Sallybeth McClasksey's award-winning art. A poster created by the rising ninth grader at Upper Perkiomen High School had been featured prominently at three locations.

            Last weekend, crews removed her creation from three billboards in Pottstown, Collegeville and Norristown. McClaskey occasionally looks at a photo of the placard, taken by her mom along Industrial Highway in Pottstown, saved on her phone.

            In the spring, the 8th grade student at the Upper Perkiomen Middle School won the 2022 Opioid Overdose Awareness Billboard Competition. McClasksey, who submitted her design to county officials in April, learned of her success watching the day's morning announcements in homeroom, heard her name called.

            "I was a little surprised," said McClasksey, who lives in Pennsburg.

            Early in June, the Montgomery County board of commissioners recognized McClasksey during a public meeting in Norristown for her efforts in the contest, held in collaboration between the county's Offices of Drug and Alcohol and Public Health. The goal of the contest is to a positive prevention message around opioid use, according to Neda Soltani, the overdose data to action coordinator for the county's Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Drug and Alcohol.

            The contest – open to all middle and high school students in the county – included 20 submissions, according to Soltani. She wrote in an email message that McClasksey, the youngest applicants, won a county wide vote.

            "I saw it as an opportunity to be creative and get across an important message," she said.

            The winning submission – which went up June 27 and remains at the county's Instagram accounty – features the faces several young people, some wearing masks, all holding blue telephones. "recovery can start with a call" reads the top of the poster. At the bottom, McClasksey included 1-800-662-HELP (4357), the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration hotline.

            After an initial attempt, McClasksey included more heads. Ultimately, she added a thicker border before submission.

            "I needed it to be more populated," McClasksey said. "The main concept never changes."

            McClasksey, who describes herself as artistically included, described traditional pencil drawing and water colors as her favorite mediums of practice. She's contemplating a career as an art teacher.

            "It's a creative job where I can help others," McClasksey said.