FAIRFAX, Va. —The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA), which serves as the public outreach arm of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), has announced a national contest for students on its educational children’s Web site, PestWorldForKids.org. The 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.
“The Pest PSA Contest is designed to promote the industry and engage children in understanding the importance of professional pest control,” says Missy Henriksen, executive director of PPMA. “However, it’s also designed to support science education during a time when most school budgets are being cut. We hope pest professionals will spread the word about this contest and encourage their own communities to enter to win.”
Using the Pest PSA lesson plan available on PestWorldForKids.org, teachers can assign students the task of creating :30 or :60 second television PSAs. Entries must be submitted by teachers between September 8, 2009 and December 23, 2009, and can be entered online or sent via U.S. postal mail.
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 via the PestWorld YouTube channel. One school will be announced as the grand prize winner and will receive a $3,000 award for educational use in their school’s science department.
PestWorldForKids.org is a free, entertaining and educational Web site developed by PPMA for students and teachers in grades K through 8. The sites 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 – all 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.