(NEWARK) – This past school year, 7,000 fourth grade students from all parts of New Jersey participated in the Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey/Verizon Design a Fourth Grade Folder Contest. The students from Fourth Grade classrooms across New Jersey were challenged to create peer-to-peer substance abuse prevention messages. The theme of the contest was “Fun Things to do Instead of Drugs.”
On Wednesday, April 13, 2011 the artwork of 30 finalists were on display at the Verizon headquarters in Newark. A ceremony honoring the finalists was held and the two grand prize winners were announced: Armando Alvarado of Belleville School #7 and Olivia Yalden of Howard C. Johnson Elementary School in Jackson. Alvarado and Yalden’s peer-to-peer substance abuse prevention messages will be duplicated on 25,000 folders that will be distributed to every school in New Jersey, beginning in September 2011.
“We applaud these young people from around the state who came up with very entertaining and creative ways to spend time doing the right things in life and their ideas can be emulated by all,” said Dennis Bone, President of Verizon New Jersey. “The Partnership plays a vital role in this state helping show children and teens that there are alternatives to drugs and those alternatives are fun, rewarding and fulfilling.”
“The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey has consistently believed that early prevention programs like the Fourth Grade Folder Contest, are effective ways to actively engage New Jersey’s young people in selecting and maintaining a drug free, healthy lifestyle,” says Angelo M. Valente, executive director, PDFNJ.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
