Three Elementary School Students Win National Poster Contest About Online Safety

Students from Elementary Schools in Austin, Texas and Naples, Florida Win
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Contest
Tied to Hispanic Heritage Month

ALEXANDRIA, VA – January 19, 2010 – Two fourth grade students from Austin, Texas and one sixth grade student from Naples, Florida have won first, second and third place in the Hispanic Heritage Month Safety Poster Contest held by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The poster is held annually as a part of National Hispanic Heritage Month to help teach elementary school-aged children in Hispanic communities about online safety.

The 2009 poster contest winners include:

First Place:                  Ingrid Cecilio, Blanton Elementary, Austin, Texas
Second Place:               Anahi Jaimes, Blanton Elementary, Austin, Texas
Third Place:                 Chistal Avellaneda, Village Oaks Elementary, Naples, Florida

The first place winner received a mini laptop, the second place winner received a DVD player, the third place winner received a gift card, and all winners received a pizza party and gift bags for their class. The poster winning first place will be printed on a safety tip bookmark that is distributed to other schools, community centers and libraries.

Hispanic Heritage Month is from September 15 to October 15. During 2009, more than 250 posters from elementary students in California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Indiana, New York, and Texas were received. The poster theme for 2009 was “Me Mantengo Seguro en linea y en el Mundo Real/I Stay Safer Online and in the Real World”. The finished posters submitted needed to be on 11” x 17” paper and used one or a combination of mediums including acrylics, watercolor, pencil, charcoal, magic markers, spray paint, crayons and/or pastels. The posters were judged based on originality of design, reflection of the contest theme, and use of color and materials.

“We are proud of these extraordinary young people,” said Ernie Allen, NCMEC’s President & CEO. “Through their artistic talent and creativity, they created fun, effective tools for teaching kids about safety and keeping thousands of children safer.”

NCMEC worked with partner organizations in each state including the Austin Independent School District in Texas, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, the School Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition in California, the Office of Latino Affairs in the District of Columbia, the Fort Wayne Police Department in Indiana, the Albuquerque PTA in New Mexico and the National Latino Peace Officers Association in New York.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since it was established by Congress in 1984, the organization has operated the toll-free 24-hour national missing children’s hotline which has handled more than 2,423,800 calls. It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 145,600 children. The organization’s CyberTipline has handled more than 775,760 reports of child sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 30,348,300 pornography images and videos. The organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice’s office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.

NOTE TO THE AUSTIN, TEXAS NEWS MEDIA:

On January 27, 2010 at 9:00 A.M., Austin Independent School District (AISD) Superintendent Meria Carstarphen, Ed.D and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) Texas Regional Office Executive Director Mary G. Malia will present awards to the two winning Austin, TX students at Blanton Elementary School, 5408 Westminister Drive, Austin, TX 78723.

For more information contact: Mary G. Malia, mmalia@ncmec.org, (512) 465-2156

NOTE TO THE NAPLES, FLORIDA NEWS MEDIA:

On January 29, 2010 at 9:00 A.M., Collier County School Board Member, Kathleen Curatolo and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) Collier County Branch Office Program Manager Amelia Vasquez will present the award to the one winning Naples, FL student at Village Oaks Elementary School, 1601 State Road 29 South, Immokalee, FL 34142.

For more information contact: Amelia Vasquez, avasquez@ncmec.org, 239-566-5805

Contest Winners Below:

First Place: Ingrid Cecilio, Blanton Elementary, Austin, Texas

Second Place: Anahi Jaimes, Blanton Elementary, Austin, Texas

Third Place: Chistal Avellaneda, Village Oaks Elementary, Naples, Florida


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