NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Health, today announced the finalists for the seventh annual Protect Me With 3+ immunization awareness contest. Artwork including five middle school posters, five high school posters and five high school videos is now showcased at www.protectmewith3.com, where public voting will begin on March 25th.
Voting will take place for two weeks and is open to the public. The public may vote once per day until the ballot is closed on April 7th at 11:59 PM EST. The top three posters and videos in each category will be presented at an awards ceremony to be held on April 28th.
The Protect Me With 3+ contest challenges New Jersey youth in middle and high school to raise awareness about the importance of adolescent immunizations: tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap), human papillomavirus (HPV), meningococcal conjugate and flu vaccines.
This year, the contest received more than 300 poster and video entries from middle school and high school students across the state. A total of eight counties were represented including Monmouth, Middlesex, Mercer, Union, Hudson, Bergen, Essex, and Passaic.
“Throughout the state, preventable diseases such as flu, measles, and meningitis are infecting children, posing further health risks to families and communities,” explained Ilise Zimmerman, President and CEO of the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey. “The Protect Me With 3+ contest provides young adults the opportunity to learn vaccine science and health messaging so that they can educate their peers and family members about the importance of vaccinations in preventing hospitalization or death.”
Teachers across New Jersey also incorporated the Protect Me With 3+ contest into their curriculums by making it a class project. "We would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the teachers who encouraged their students to participate! We hope that the contest provided students with a fun and creative way to learn more about vaccinations while helping them to develop important team building skills,” said State Epidemiologist and Assistant Commissioner Dr. Tina Tan from the New Jersey Department of Health.
Prizes will be awarded to the top three entries in the video and poster categories. The winning creations will also be distributed during various statewide immunization awareness activities. Prizes for the classrooms with the most eligible submissions in each category will also be awarded.
The Protect Me With 3+ contest finalists include:
Middle School Poster Category:
- Ava Butterline, Franklin Elementary School
- Jason Anthony Lopez Nieto, Lincoln Annex School
- Katie Thearle, Franklin Elementary School
- Emily Ramos, Henry Hudson Regional
- Jessica Aguirre, Lincoln Annex School
High School Poster Category:
- Mualla Katircioglu, Pioneer Academy
- Ansh Gupta, John P. Stevens High School
- Brandon Garsson, Marlboro High School
- Annie Zhou, High Technology High School
- Emma Steinberg, Marlboro High School
Video Category:
- Isabella Riggi, Academy of Allied Health and Science
- Nicole Kye, Ridgewood High School
- Dara Bruselovsky, Marlboro High School
- Daniel Cohen, Marlboro High School
- Justin Yu, Marlboro High School
To vote, visit: www.protectmewith3.com/vote.
To view previous winners' entries, visit: http://protectmewith3.com/winners/.
About the Partnership
The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation, licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH). Its mission is to improve the health of women, children, and families. The Partnership has more than 20 years of experience mounting community-based, consumer-friendly and culturally competent educational programs to parents, caregivers, pregnant women and individuals of child-bearing age. For more information visit, http://partnershipmch.org.
To learn more about vaccinations, visit the New Jersey Department of Health’s website, visit: https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/vpdp.shtml.