ATTLEBORO - Brennan Middle School eighth-grader Rebecca Bonefant was not expecting to win, but her collage of many skin tones assembled into one face was judged to be an inspired effort worthy of one of three first-place honors in the poster contest for the theme, "Let's Talk: Respecting Racial and Cultural Differences," held in conjunction with the public forum of the same name that took place last Thursday night at Coelho Middle School.

Bonefant, whose creativity usually takes the form of writing, said this was her first collage.

"When Mr. Rose told me (I won), I almost didn't believe it," said Bonefant, referring to Brennan art teacher Stephen Rose, one of the judges for the contest along with Attleboro Arts Museum Director Mim Fawcett and Sun Chronicle Graphic Artist and Assistant Managing Editor David LaFerriere.

Corina Bonefant, Rebecca's mother, accompanied her to the event.

"I'm extremely proud of her," she said, adding, "This seems to be her year. Besides this (winning the poster contest), she was voted 'Most Unique' in the school yearbook."

Unique, yet feeling the "sameness" among humanity, Rebecca Bonefant explained what was on her mind when she made the poster, breaking it down to a simple message: "We're the same, except with different skin colors. We're all people," she said. Rose spoke of the approach he used with his students.

"First we had the students themselves talking, and then we got to the artwork. The kids had the opportunity to talk about their own experiences (with racial and cultural acceptance)," he explained, "and the art came out of that."

Eighth-grader Robert Braza of Wamsutta Middle School was also a winner, with his poster chosen as the best from his school. His entry depicted a dream-like scene of multicultural symbols and ideals, with a central figure soaring on ahead.

Along with working on the poster project, students at Coelho researched African-American artists. That inspired seventh-grader Ngan Tran's creation, whose poster was judged to be the best from that school. Tran chose to reproduce a work by noted muralist John Thomas Biggers.

Surrounding the picture, Tran quoted baseball great Jackie Robinson's memorable words, "I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me. All I ask is that you respect me as a human being."

Prizes to each of the three students were a $50 certificate to the Emerald Square mall donated by the Attleboro Police Association and art supplies donated by the Gregory D. Dorrance Co.

Donna Kendall can be reached at 508-222-1617 or at donnakendall@verizon.net.