FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 27, 2022
Contacts: Natalie Golub, 973-382-4560, natalie@drugfreenj.org

 PDFNJ Seeking Fourth Grade Students to Showcase Artistic Talents in Statewide Fourth Grade Folder Contest

BERGENFIELD, NJ — The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) is calling on creative fourth graders to test their artistic skills for its annual Fourth Grade Folder Contest for the 2022-2023 school year. Each year PDFNJ challenges fourth grade students throughout New Jersey to create anti-drug artwork related to the theme “Fun Things to do Instead of Drugs”, with the winning artwork to be reproduced as a school folder distributed to classrooms throughout the state.

Last year’s contest drew nearly 3,000 submissions with 33 finalists and two grand prize winners chosen to have their artwork featured on 40,000 folders. Winners, Sean Arrieta and Kristen Williams of Hoover Elementary School, had the honor of distributing the folders with their winning artwork to the fourth-grade classrooms at their school. 

Left to right, Charlene Anolik, 4^th Grade Teacher Hoover Elementary School; Christopher Tully, Bergenfield Superintendent of Schools; Angelo Valente, Executive Director PDFNJ; William Fleming, Principal, Hoover Elementary School, Grand Prize Winner, Sean Arrieta and Grand Prize winner Kristen Williams distributing folders to students

“The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey’s school-based programs like the Fourth Grade Folder Contest are an effective way to actively engage today’s youth in choosing and maintaining a drug-free healthy lifestyle,” stated Angelo Valente, Executive Director of PDFNJ. “This peer-to-peer substance use prevention artwork is an impactful way to combat peer pressure and for students to creatively share what a healthy lifestyle means to them.”

The Fourth Grade Folder Contest is accepting submission until December 7^th.  To learn more about the contest and to enter submissions please click here.

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Best known for its statewide substance use prevention 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 200 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 211 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.