Greater Helena Law Enforcement Invites K-12 Students to 2026 Poster Contest

Greater Helena law-enforcement community and affiliated groups on Feb. 19 called on K-12 students across Lewis and Clark County to enter the 2026 Law Enforcement Appreciation Poster Contest, an outreach effort aimed at fostering civic awareness and positive community-police relationships.

The announcement named the contest specifically as the 2026 Law Enforcement Appreciation Poster Contest and targeted K-12 students in the Greater Helena area, signaling a countywide push to involve school-aged children in arts-based civic engagement during 2026. Organizers framed the effort as a way to bring young people into conversations about public safety and local government, using visual work to express perspectives on law enforcement in Helena and the surrounding communities within Lewis and Clark County.

The notice was issued by the Greater Helena law-enforcement community and affiliate groups; it did not single out individual agencies by name in the initial call but positioned the initiative as coordinated outreach from law-enforcement partners in the Helena area. By asking for K-12 participation, the announcement implicitly reached every grade level from kindergarten through 12th grade, encompassing public, private and home-schooled students who live in or attend school in Lewis and Clark County.

Released six days before today’s date, Feb. 25, 2026, the Feb. 19 announcement sets the 2026 contest as a visible example of local civic programming tied to law enforcement. Organizers described the contest goal as strengthening community-police relationships and increasing civic awareness among youth, and they invited creative participation from students across Greater Helena. The statement indicated that additional details about submission rules, judging criteria and timelines would follow from the coordinating groups as the 2026 contest proceeds, offering schools and families in Lewis and Clark County time to prepare artwork for the initiative.