FAIRFAX, Va. - The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA), which serves as the public outreach arm of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), announced its second annual contest for students on its educational children’s website, PestWorldForKids.org. The national contest challenges students in grades 4 through 8 to create their own educational Public Service Announcement (PSA) that highlights the health and property risks posed by household pests such as rodents, ants, termites, cockroaches, stinging insects and ticks.
Using the Pest PSA lesson plan available on PestWorldForKids.org, teachers can assign students the task of creating :30 or :60 second television PSAs. The contest begins September 7, 2010 and will officially close at 11:59 p.m. EST on December 23, 2010. Entries must be submitted by teachers through the entries page on PestWorldForKids.org or sent via U.S. postal mail.
“Last year, we were blown away by the talent and creativity portrayed in the PSAs that we received from across the country,” says Missy Henriksen, executive director of PPMA. “We are excited to again offer students the chance to learn about pests, while at the same time using their creativity to explore an important educational topic. We hope pest professionals will once again help us to spread the word about this contest and encourages their communities to participate.”
Five finalists will win “bragging rights” as a top performing school in the Pest PSA Contest, and will have their entries publicly posted to PestWorldForKids.org. One school will be recognized as the grand prize winner and will receive a $3,000 award for their school’s science department.
Last year’s winner was Red Bank Middle School in Red Bank, N.J., which won the grand prize for their entry titled ‘Club Roach’.
PestWorldForKids.org is a free, entertaining and educational website developed for students and teachers in grades K through 8. The site features 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 – designed to teach children about insects and rodents in their natural habitats, and the health and property risks posed by pests once they find their way into the home.
For full contest rules and details, and to view last year’s winning entries, visit www.PestWorldForKids.org.