SWNPHD announces poster contest winners

McCook -- Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD) announces the fourth annual local "Radon Poster Contest" winners.

"Congratulations to the 312 outstanding students that entered our radon poster contest," said Denise Ringenberg, Health Educator. "This is the largest number of entries in our history. We appreciate the talented students and dedicated teachers from nine different schools that created these excellent posters."

Judges selected the following posters in this highly competitive contest:

1st place, Claire Maaliao, 8th grade, Perkins County Middle School

2nd place, Jaden Dietlein, 6th grade, Perkins County Middle School

3rd place, JoAnn Neel, 7th grade, McCook Junior High School

4th place, Sunny Sramek, 6th grade, Hitchcock County Schools

5th place, Felicity Petty, 8th grade, Victory Christian Academy in McCook

With so many exceptional posters submitted, we added an honorable mention category.

Cord Frink, 4th grade, Arapahoe Elementary School

Landon Towne, 5th grade, McCook Central Elementary School

Kori Uerling, 5th grade, McCook Central Elementary School

Ashley Briggs, 8th grade, Perkins County Middle School

Laura Dreiling, 7th grade, Perkins County Middle School

Tyler Thelander, 8th grade, Perkins County Middle School

Morgan Turner, 6th grade, Perkins County Middle School

Taylor Turner, 7th grade, Perkins County Middle School

Bailey Wood, 8th grade, Perkins County Middle School

Makayla Schoen, 4th grad, Southern Valley Schools

Posters were displayed in the windows at 318 Norris Avenue through the month of November, except the top five posters sent to the state contest. Poster judges were: Camy Bradley, McCook Abstract & Title Company; Phyllis Graham, Edward Jones Investments; Melanie Goodenberger, Golden Plains Realty and Melanie Jones-Wier, DDS, Bison Dental and SWNPHD board member.

The goal of the poster contest is to raise awareness about the dangers of radon. As the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, radon is not well known. It is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that enters homes and buildings through the soil and cannot be detected unless it is tested. In Nebraska, one out of every two homes tested has a high radon level (above 4.0 pCi/L).

An additional Top 30 posters list and photos of award winners can be found on our website at www.swhealth.ne.gov.

SWNPHD is located at 404 West 10th Street, McCook -- one block north of Arby's. You can also follow us on Facebook & Twitter.

Story, photos courtesy of Denise Ringenberg