FAIRFAX, Va. — For the second year in a row, The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA), awarded a $3,000 grant as the grand prize in its national science and technology competition for students. PPMA, which serves as the public outreach arm of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) awarded the prize to Red Bank Middle School for its entry, “Mosquitoes Bite.”
To enter, teachers and students in grades four through eight created Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that would inform the public about the threats common pests, such as rodents, ants, termites, cockroaches, stinging insects and ticks can pose to public health and property. To create and enter submissions, schools utilized PestWorldForKids.org, PPMA’s educational children’s web site.
“The goal of this contest is to help children to be aware of the benefits of our industry and exercise their knowledge and creativity, and we’ve certainly seen that goal realized this year,” said Missy Henriksen, executive director of PPMA. “All the wonderful entries we received showed that students understand the importance of pest control, but Red Bank Middle School’s ‘Mosquitoes Bite’ entry had a winning combination of information, great music and humor.”
In addition to winning the grand prize, two of Red Bank Middle School’s additional entries placed among the top five finalists in the contest. The runner up in the contest was an entry entitled “Got Termites?” from Lakewood Christian Schools in Long Beach, CA. All entries were judged on criteria including originality and creativity, adherence to creative assignment, health messaging, and overall appeal. The top five finalists’ entries can be viewed at PestWorldForKids.org.
“The annual Pest PSA Contest is also a great way for companies to bring an added value to their school programs,” said Henriksen. “Each year, school budgets are shrinking and the grand prize award can be a significant boost to science programs. We hope that all companies are taking advantage of promoting this opportunity to deserving schools in their local communities.”
This competition is just one of the many ways PPMA promotes knowledge of professional pest control among young people to foster understanding of and appreciation for the industry. With the help of the industry, PPMA hopes to further inform school administrators and teachers about all of the resources it offers through PestWorldForKids.org, including a pest glossary, a comprehensive pest guide, downloadable fact sheets and project PDFs, a report writing center, science fair projects and teacher lesson plans and games.
The third annual Pest PSA Contest will begin accepting entries on September 6, 2011 and will close at midnight on December 24, 2011. For more information about the Pest PSA Contest and ideas about how to promote it within your own community, please contact Missy Henriksen at mhenriksen@pestworld.org.