NJ 4th Grade Student Art to be at Verizon HQ

3/24/2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2010
Contact Information:
Michelle Vernuccio Media Coordinator
Phone: 973.467.2100, ext. 24
E-mail: michelle@drugfreenj.org

 

 

NEW JERSEY FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS’ DRUG PREVENTION ARTWORK

TO BE ON DISPLAY AT VERIZON’S HEADQUARTERS

 

(NEWARK) – This past school year, over 5,600 fourth grade students from all parts of the state participated in the Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey’s (PDFNJ)/Verizon Design a Fourth Grade Folder Contest. On Thursday, March 25, 2010 the top 30 entries will be on display at the Verizon headquarters at 540 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey in Vail Hall located on the first floor. A ceremony honoring the finalists and announcing the two grand prize winners will be held beginning at 11:00 a.m.

 

“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.”

 

“This is a program that everyone at the Partnership looks forward to each year. The quality of the artwork the students created and the power of their messages are just outstanding,” said PDFNJ Chairman Joseph A. Miele. “As our research points more and more to the importance of peer-to-peer influence as a factor in the decision to try drugs, the clarity and creativity of these messages demonstrates that young people are learning about drugs and communicating it in their own ways. The enormous interest in this program shows that the drug-free message is getting through.”

 

The contest, sponsored by Verizon, was open to fourth grade students throughout the state. Students were challenged to create substance abuse prevention artwork relating to the theme of the contest, “Fun Things To Do Instead of Doing Drugs.”

 

The two grand prize winning entries will be made into a folder and distributed to over 40,000 New Jersey fourth grade students.

 

Best known for its statewide anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication.  To date, more than $50 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception the Partnership has garnered over 50 Advertising and Public Relations Awards from National, Regional & Statewide Media Organizations.