GLENWOOD | A clean sweep.

That's what three Hickory Bend Elementary fourth-graders did at the first Metra poster contest, held to promote train safety.

Lorena Flores, Imani Dean and James Little took first, second and third place, respectively, in the contest that included schools in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.

Three top finishers were selected in each grade level, kindergarten through 12th. Winners were chosen based on creativity, originality, fulfillment of contest guidelines and how well the contest theme, "Lead by Example," was conveyed.

The three Glenwood students found out that they were winners over the summer. They are all now fifth-graders at Brookwood Middle School.

Flores attended a ceremony at Metra's main office in Chicago, at which time she received a Hewlett-Packard 510 Pentium notebook computer.

"They had a lot of cameras and I think it was on TV," Flores said.

Flores's winning poster will be included in a 2008 Metra safety calendar and will be distributed to schools throughout Northeastern Illinois, both in English and in Spanish.

Both Flores and Dean, who won a $250 American Express gift card, were surprised to be chosen from such a large pool of entries. Both also said they learned valuable information about train safety.

"I learned that the trains go really fast sometimes and if you don't watch, then you could get hit," Dean said.

Little, who won a $100 American Express gift card, was not shocked when he heard that he was among the top finishers.

"I draw every day," he said. "I draw at home, draw here, draw anywhere."

Art teacher Nancy Wartman made sure that her students used bright colors and large letters to stand out from the crowd.

All three posters included an older child instructing a younger one.

"There's been a lot of fatalities lately with trains and so (Metra) started this campaign," Wartman said. "They get kids to listen, because sometimes they wear headphones or they cross without looking, and so they wanted to make kids and adults aware of train safety." Wartman, who teaches at both Hickory Bend and Brookwood, thought that perhaps one of her students would win. She was shocked when Hickory Bend principal Shirley Bragg called her with the news that three had won.

"I was just real excited because I know how hard these kids worked on them and they're three dedicated kids who really give their all. I was really happy for them."