August 2000 • Volume 6 • Number 8
Martin Mahoney, M.D., Ph.D., left, past chair of the AAFP Tar Wars Advisory Board, appears with this year's national poster contest winner, Jenny Beck, and last year's winner, Matthew Stucky. At right is Jeannette South-Paul, M.D., a member of the Tar Wars Program Advisors. The winning poster is shown below.
Tar Wars poster contest honors young artists
This year's winning Tar Wars poster says it loud and clear: "We the people ... choose not to smoke."
More than 150 of those people attended the annual awards ceremony for the national Tar Wars poster contest July 13, expressing support for fourth- and fifth-graders across the country who used artwork to illustrate their tobacco-free messages.
The event was co-hosted by Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and the Academy, which operates the Tar Wars program. On hand were Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark.; Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C.; Rep. Charles Pickering Jr., R-Miss.; and numerous Congressional staff representatives.
Contest winners honored at the ceremony were Jenny Beck of Evansville, Ind., first place; Kathryn Cox of Washington, D.C., second place; Chelsy Larson of Monroe, S.D., third place; and Ryan Jones of Upper Marlsboro, Md., and Melanie Ezra of Flemington, N.J., who tied for fourth place.
Family physicians and other health care providers present the Tar Wars curriculum in the classroom to build students' awareness of attitudes about tobacco use, tobacco's effects on the body and the ways tobacco ads influence people. Students who participate in the program are eligible to enter a state poster contest; winners proceed to the national contest.
Tar Wars posters are displayed in schools and community sites as alternatives to tobacco ads. Winning posters from the national contest are printed on T-shirts, computer mouse pads and book covers.
For the Tar Wars curriculum and products, call the Academy at (800) TAR WARS (827-9277).
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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