Contest for students

PestWorldForKids.org, an educational children's Web site developed by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), today announced a national competition for students (grades 4 through 8) to win $3,000 for one lucky school's science department. The contest challenges teachers and their students to create educational Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that highlight the health and property risks posed by household pests such as rodents, ants, termites, cockroaches, stinging insects and ticks.

"Insects are incredibly interesting and fun to learn about in the classroom," says Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for NPMA. "It's when they come indoors - into our homes and schools - that they become pests. We are excited to offer students the chance to learn about pests, while at the same time using their creativity to explore an important educational topic."

Using the Pest PSA lesson plan available on PestWorldForKids.org, teachers can assign students the task of creating  :30 or :60 second television PSAs. Entries must be submitted by teachers between September 8, 2009 and December 23, 2009, and can be entered online or sent via U.S. postal mail.

Five finalists will win "bragging rights" as a top performing school in the Pest PSA Contest, and will have their entries publicly posted to PestWorldForKids.org. One school will be recognized as the grand prize winner and will receive a $3,000 award for their school's science department.

PestWorldForKids.org is a free, entertaining and educational Web site developed for students and teachers in grades K through 8. The site features a pest glossary, a comprehensive pest guide, downloadable fact sheets and project PDFs, a report writing center, science fair projects and teacher lesson plans and games - all designed to teach children about the common insects and rodents in their natural habitats, and the health and property risks posed by pests once they find their way into the home.

For full contest rules and details, as well as examples of PSAs, visit www.PestWorldForKids.org.

The NPMA, a non-profit organization with more than 6,000 members, was established in 1933 to support the pest management industry's commitment to the protection of public health, food and property.