Three Local Fifth Graders Recently Awarded Prizes for Winning Entries to Tobacco-Free Bookmark Contest
07/22/2010 Three local fifth graders recently were awarded prizes for their winning entries submitted to the Tobacco-Free Bookmark Contest sponsored by Fisher-Titus Medical Center in Norwalk and
Mercy Hospital of Willard.
The
first place winner, Jacob Grant, of Milan Elementary School, received
an iPod Nano. His bookmark, "Smoking Is for The Dragons," was
printed and distributed to area libraries. The contest’s second place
winner, Kathleen Schaaf, of St.Francis Xavier School in Willard, earned a $50 Wal-Mart gift card
and third place winner, Colleen Miller, of Main Street School
in Norwalk, was
awarded a $25 Wal-Mart gift card. All three students also won a pizza party for
their fifth-grade class courtesy of FTMC and Mercy Hospital of Willard.
"We
had over 200 students from eight
area schools design original bookmarks with tobacco free messages," said
Kim Bailey, a certified tobacco specialist at FTMC and member of the bookmark
contest committee. "It is wonderful to see children excited to get the
message out about the dangers of tobacco use."
Smoking-related
diseases claim an estimated 438,000 American lives each year, including those
affected indirectly, such as babies born prematurely due to prenatal maternal
smoking and victims of "secondhand" exposure to tobacco's carcinogens,
according to the American Lung Association.
"This
was a project that both area hospitals decided was a great benefit to our
communities," said Marsha Danhoff, Director/Organizational
Planning & Development Mercy Hospital of Willard. "The
contest helps area students not only learn about the tobacco and its effects,
but through these creative bookmarks the message reaches the entire
community."
Rules
of the contest were simple. Entries needed to be hand drawn in color or black
and white on the official entry form. Bookmarks were to include original
artwork, original manuscript in the form of a poem, prose, letter or original
slogan. Students needed to demonstrate how tobacco companies manipulate
students to smoke; how important it is for students to be tobacco free or
convey a message to others that would prevent them from using tobacco.
Committee
members from Fisher-Titus Medical Center
and Mercy Hospital of Willard judged and selected the winning bookmarks based
on originality, message conveyed and neatness.
 |  |  |
Jacob Grant
1st Place
| Kathleen Schaaf
2nd Place | Colleen Miller
3rd Place |
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