Emergency Preparedness Calendar

Calling All Artists!

The City of Austin Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) is excited to showcase student artwork in the 2026 Emergency Preparedness Calendar! We invite all Central Texas students in kindergarten through 8th grade to participate in the 2026 Emergency Preparedness Calendar Contest by submitting original artwork focused on emergency preparedness. Eligible participants must attend a school or reside within the Central Texas region.

SUBJECT OF ARTWORK:

Family emergency preparedness actions, severe weather conditions occurring in Central Texas, and man-made disasters. Artwork could also contain a safety message about the specific hazard featured.

Examples of a family emergency preparedness action are the creation of a home or vehicle emergency kit or practicing a disaster plan, such as an evacuation or communication plan.

Severe weather hazards are tornado, hail, flash flooding, lightning, excessive heat or cold and dangerous icy conditions.

Examples of man-made disasters are terrorism, wildfires, train derailment, chemical spills, building fires and epidemic.

Information on personal safety during severe weather and man-made disasters are available at public education websites. Use these resources as inspiration for submission ideas.

HSEM Preparedness Information

Ready.Gov

Texas Disaster Preparedness

KnoWhat2Do

National Weather Service - Safety Information

CDC - Disaster Information

Red Cross Disaster Preparedness

Artwork Guidelines:

Materials: Paint, colored pen/pencils,
pastels, crayons, markers.

Paper: 12x24 and 8.5 x 11. Landscape

Submissions must include student name, grade, school, school district, and parent email (if applicable). We will need to contact winning artist’s family to invite them to the awards ceremony.

Evaluation Criteria:

Artwork will be evaluated on creative visual quality and safety message content. Selected artwork will compete in an evaluation for the 12 monthly calendar positions and the calendar cover. There will also be a collage of honorable mention entries on the back cover.

Contest evaluation panel will be made up of City of Austin Office of Homeland Security Emergency Management and the Travis County Office of Emergency Management.

Awards:

Front cover and monthly winning artists will receive a trophy and Go Bag Kit with a NOAA weather radio at an award ceremony to be held at Austin City Hall. Winning artists are celebrated during an Austin City Council meeting.

The deadline for submitting artwork is 11:59 p.m. Thursday, July 31, 2025.

All artwork must be submitted to the City of Austin Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management either electronically or mailed to:

ATTN: HSEM
5202 E. Ben White Blvd Suite #550
Austin, TX 78741

To submit electronically please fill this form out: https://bit.ly/hsemcalendarform

Artwork submitted after the July 31, 2025 deadline will not be accepted. Winners will be announced in October.

Original artwork that is mailed will become property of the City of Austin HSEM and will not be returned. City of Austin HSEM reserves the right to publish artwork as deemed beneficial for public education.

You voted! Introducing our 2025 art contest winners.

The community helped choose 12 child artists whose artwork will be featured for each month of the 2025 Emergency Preparedness Calendar. Winners were recognized during the December City Council meeting with a Distinguished Service Award Ceremony.

2025 Calendar Winners

Cover - Evelyn L., Amelie P., Laila C., and Nicolette F. (5th Grade), Gullet Elementary School and Brentwood Elementary School
January - Cole H. (3rd Grade), Good Shepherd Lutheran School
February - Celeste P. (5th Grade), Brentwood Elementary School
March - Auden V. (6th Grade), Homeschooled
April - Micaiah C. (3rd Grade), Kocurek Elementary School
May - Norah L. (4th Grade), Kocurek Elementary School
June - Remington F. (4th Grade), Good Shepherd Lutheran School
July - Luna A. (3rd Grade), Blanton Elementary School
August - Daniela G. (5th Grade), Williams Elementary School
September - Kira W. (1st Grade), UT Elementary Charter School
October - Milana Wyatt. (4th Grade), Cowan Elementary School
November - Bennett H., UT Elementary Charter School
December - Sahana S. (3rd Grade), Canyon Creek Elementary School

The 2025 Emergency Preparedness calendar was truly a community effort - from all the artwork submissions to the cooperation of the schools, parents, and art teachers who made this calendar possible. Thank you!

About the 2025 Calendar

For the 2025 calendar, the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) partnered with the Travis County Office of Emergency Management (TCOEM) to engage Kindergarten through 8th graders and their families across Central Texas to share what they believed to be the most important safety information.

Each month features artwork related to emergency awareness or preparedness, as well as action items individuals and families could accomplish for the month. The calendar showcases the importance of making a plan and discussing as a family the importance of taking steps to prepare for all around emergencies.

Thank you from all the staff at HSEM and TCOEM for the amazing submissions. We cannot wait to see what our future artists will create next year. We look forward to continuing to partner with our local young artists, schools, and everyone in-between who makes these important community preparedness projects possible.