State/Local Contest Organizers

Below you will find resources to help you organize the National Radon Poster Contest at the state and local level. You will find official rules and guidelines, tips for running the Contest, tools for marketing the Contest, and templates for recognizing winners. Also, learn about results from past Contests.

Official Contest Rules

This year's contest officially opens on February 1, 2012
State-level judging occurs in many states. Click here to see if your state accepts entries, and to find the entry deadline and information for your state. States forward their top three poster entries to Kansas State University for the national contest judging.
If your state is not listed on the State Poster Contest Contact list, send poster entries directly to KSU by November 2, 2012
Judging for national level entries will occur by November 18, 2012
Notification of state winners chosen as part of the national judging will occur by November 30, 2012

Eligibility Requirements: Children ages 9-14 are eligible. They can be enrolled in a public, private, territorial, tribal, U.S. Department of Defense or homeschool — or through a sponsoring club, such as an art, computer or science club; scouting organization; or 4-H club.

The Prize:
Awards and Recognition
Due to budget reductions, there will be no Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Symposium in Washington DC, the venue at which recent winners of the poster contest received their awards. Instead, the first, second and third place winners will receive fiscal gift cards (amounts to be determined but likely $1000 for first place, $600 for second place, $400 for third, and $400 for online recognition) and plaques, but no trip to Washington DC. Some flyers and promotional efforts occurred prior to now so there may be expectations raised that will need to be corrected. We will work to recognize national winners at in the state and EPA region where they live, and the posters will be reproduced and distributed nationally to promote radon awareness.

Poster Topics: Choose from the following five topics:

What is radon?
Where does radon come from?
How does radon get into our homes?
Radon can cause lung cancer.
Test your home for radon.

Judging Criteria:

Content accuracy
Visual communication of topic
Reproducibility
Originality

Artwork Requirements:

Be original
Must not have student’s name on the front
Should include a title on the front
Topic and title must be on the Artwork Submission Form
White paper - 12 x 18 and 8.5 x 11 sizes are preferred, but all submission sizes will be accepted (preferred size eases reproducibility)
Can be created with crayon, markers, paint (watercolor, tempera, acrylic), collage, photographs or computer graphics
Lettering and message should be large enough to reproduce well, with all pencil markings erased
Copyrighted characters (such as Snoopy), product logos and trademarked or brand names cannot be used.

Support to Organize Your Local Radon Poster Contest

The National Radon Program Services at Kansas State University relies on the state radon contacts, as well as the territories and tribal nations, to make this contest a success. In order to encourage greater participation in the National Radon Poster contest, Kansas State University is making available up to $1,000 for every state, territory, and tribal nation that has a radon poster contest (based on available funds). Receipts and an invoice using a standard form are required to be submitted. This funding is to help off-set the costs of the conducting the contest and holding an award ceremony.

Reimbursement Letter (doc)
Radon Poster Contest Reimbursement Invoice Form for States Agencies

Contest Organizer Tools and Templates

Below, find essential tools to help you organize a successful radon poster contest in your community.

Artwork Submission Form
Radon Poster Contest Tips (pdf)
School Poster Reporting Spreadsheet

Poster Contest Outreach Kit and Tools

The following tools will help you get students, teachers, parents, and the broader community engaged in your poster contest.

Poster Contest Outreach Kit
National Radon Poster Contest Flyer
Poster Contest Web Buttons
Sample Teacher Outreach Letter
Additional Outreach Templates

Post-Contest Recognition Tools and Templates

After your successful poster contest, use these tools to recognize your local and national winners to in order to continue raising radon awareness.

Sample Award Ceremony Budget
Recognition Ceremony Facility Checklist (doc) (pdf)
Certificate of Participation at Large (doc)

National Radon Poster Contest Results

As a part of the National Radon Action Month result information on RadonLeaders. org, results information has also been posted for the most recent National Radon Poster Contest. View the chart below to learn more about the success of the National Radon Poster Contest, and how it helped drive participation in National Radon Action Month.