Local Grade School Children Take a Stand Against Tobacco Use and Win Anti-Tobacco Poster Contest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2008
Contact
Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator
(217) 531-2916
Lori A. Holmes, Public Relations
(217) 531-2927
Local Grade School Children Take a Stand Against Tobacco Use and Win Anti-Tobacco Poster Contest
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District REALITY Illinois Program to Present Prizes to Local Grade School Children at Special School Assemblies
Champaign, IL – Local grade school children will receive prizes for the winning entries in the 2008 REALITY Illinois poster contest at special school assemblies. Awards for students grades Kindergarten – Second will take place on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at Unity West at 8:30am. Awards for students grades Third – Fifth will take place on Friday May 30, 2008 at Gifford Grade School at 8:30am.
Champaign-Urbana grade school children recently participated in an annual anti-tobacco workshop provided by the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD). Sponsored by Reality Illinois, this workshop is designed to educate children on the dangers of tobacco use, and provide them with the tools necessary to make the best possible decisions in the future regarding tobacco use. At the end of the workshop, participants were encouraged to create posters that best represented their thoughts on tobacco use, and the messages that they would like their peers to know when considering the use of tobacco products.
“Over 60,000 children in Illinois under the age of 18 become new daily tobacco users each year,” said Jennifer Jackson, Health Educator for CUPHD, “It is estimated that one third of those will become regular tobacco users as adults, and suffer health problems related to tobacco use in the future. It is imperative that young children are presented with tobacco information before they are tempted to try a tobacco product.”
Winners of the REALITY Illinois 2008 Poster Contest are:
KINDERGARTEN – SECOND GRADE -
- 1st Place: Kiley, 1st Grade, Unity West, $100 worth of gift cards & their poster on a t-shirt for their entire class.
- 2nd Place: Nathan, 1st Grade, Unity West, $50 worth of gift cards
- 3rd Place: Haley, 1st Grade, Ludlow Grade School, $25 in gift cards
- Honorable Mention: Jacob, 1st grade, Ludlow Grade School, $10 in gift cards
- Honorable Mention: Brenden, 1st grade, Ludlow Grade School, $10 in gift cards
- Honorable Mention: Sandy, 1st grade, Ludlow Grade School, $10 in gift cards
THIRD GRADE – FIFTH GRADE -
- 1st Place: Heidi, 5th Grade, Gifford Grade School, $100 worth of gift cards & their poster on a t-shirt for their entire class.
- 2nd Place: Brendan, 5th Grade, Lincoln Trail Elementary School in Mahomet, $50 worth of gift cards
- 3rd Place: Brandon, 5th Grade, Unity West, $25 in gift cards
- Honorable Mention: Mia, 5th grade, Dr. Howard in Champaign, $10 in gift cards
- Honorable Mention: Elif, 4th grade, King Elementary School in Urbana, $10 in gift cards
- Honorable Mention: Mariah, 5th grade, Ludlow, $10 in gift cards
REALITY Illinois is an anti-tobacco movement created by and for Illinois teens. With help from the Illinois Department of Public Health and local health departments, REALITY Illinois encourages teens to take a stand against tobacco by educating their peers and communities about the adverse health effects and deceptive marketing practices of tobacco companies. The teens also work to make their communities tobacco-free and communicate with decision makers on issues related to tobacco prevention and control.
The REALITY Illinois program was launched in the summer of 2002. Local chapters form a teen advisory panel to plan activities and events that range from conducting peerto-peer tobacco prevention education to membership recruitment and advocacy projects.
For more information about the REALITY Illinois program at CUPHD or other CUPHD programs and services, please call 217-352-7961 or visit CUPHD on the web at www.c-uphd.org.
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