CUMBERLAND — All of this year’s winning entries for an anti-tobacco billboard design contest came from Mount Savage School, said Allegany County Health Department Public Information Coordinator Brenda Caldwell.
The project involved Allegany County Association of Student Councils Adviser Kara Kennell and ACHD Tobacco and Chronic Disease Program Coordinator Haley Guillot, Caldwell said.
The Live Tobacco-Free billboard design contest resulted from efforts to involve Allegany County youth in anti-tobacco/nicotine initiatives, she said.
“Area students were invited to create art that communicated a youth perspective on quitting tobacco and nicotine (and) what that means and looks like to them,” Caldwell said. “Not only is this peer-to-peer risk communication — kids speaking to kids — among young people, but hopefully it is a wake-up call for adults, shining a light on the impact their tobacco and nicotine habits have on kids.”
This year’s entries focused on the theme, “Be Smart. Don’t Start,” Caldwell said.
“This is the second year that this program has taken place, and the contest is open to all school-age, K-12, Allegany County students,” she said. “Art contest entries are submitted by students in the fall, and the entries are posted on the health department’s Facebook page for the public to vote for their favorites.”
Winners were announced earlier this year, followed by their artwork displayed on the billboards.
Location of the billboards included Mechanic Street in Cumberland and U.S. Route 40 in LaVale.
Artwork on the displays showed the first name of each artist.
“We don’t include the last names of the students for privacy reasons, as they are minors,” Caldwell said.
Cumberland resident Shirley McDonald’s great-granddaughter Lelia Dunner is one of the artists who worked on the project.
McDonald said she was pleased to see the billboards in the area.
“I was excited that something this important hasn’t been ignored … to spread the awareness,” she said of the messages on the displays.