Contact:

Missy Henriksen

Professional Pest Management Alliance

(703) 352-6762

mhenriksen@pestworld.org

Kaitlin Cavanaugh

Vault Communications

(610) 455-2749

kcavanaugh@vaultcommunications.com

The Professional Pest Management Alliance announces winner of online CONTEST for students

Red Bank Middle School Wins $3,000 Grand Prize on PestWorldForKids.org Contest

March 12 (Fairfax, VA) —The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA), which serves as the public outreach arm of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), has announced the winner of its national science and technology competition for students on its educational children’s Web site, PestWorldForKids.org. Red Bank Middle School, of Red Bank, NJ has won the grand prize and will be awarded $3,000 in support of science education for its entry titled “Club Roach.” 

The contest challenged teachers and students in grades 4 through 8 to create educational Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that highlighted the health and property risks posed by household pests such as rodents, ants, termites, cockroaches, stinging insects and ticks.

View the grand prize winner.

“The Pest PSA Contest was designed to promote our industry and engage children in understanding the importance of professional pest management,” said Missy Henriksen, executive director of PPMA. “We were thrilled to receive many excellent submissions, but Red Bank Middle School’s ‘Club Roach’ entry stood out for its creativity, originality, humor and emphasis on educational messaging about the threats posed by cockroaches and other household pests.”

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. Other finalists included Marion Junior/Senior High School in Marion, WI and 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 www.PestWorldForKids.org.

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.

The PPMA will hold its second annual Pest PSA Contest in the fall of 2010. Entry information and guidelines will be available on www.PestWorldForKids.org.

The PPMA was founded in 1997 to defend, protect and grow the pest management industry.  As the voice of the professional pest management industry, PPMA continues to proactively provide the public with information on the value of professional pest management. For more information, please visit www.PPMATools.org or www.npmapestworld.org/PPMA.

The NPMA, a non-profit organization with more than 7,000 members, was established in 1933 to support the pest management industry’s commitment to the protection of public health, food and property.

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