Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre, in conjunction with its sponsor, the Argus Group, today announce the winners of its ‘Don’t Start – Be LungSmart’ smoking prevention poster competition.
The competition, targeted at Primary 6 students (or equivalent in private schools), was intended to complement the existing LungSmart programme in schools. The goal of the LungSmart programme is to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking, to reduce the number of school children who decide to start smoking and to encourage those who already smoke to become tobacco-free.
Through the process of designing posters carrying anti-smoking messages, students learned that smoking is addictive, about the dangerous chemicals in cigarettes and that smoking is associated with numerous health problems. These key messages will then be further disseminated by the winning posters when they are distributed for display in schools across the island.
The winners selected by the Argus Donations Committee for the most imaginative representation of the theme in their posters were Cree Dunn from Harrington Sound Primary School, Cailey Longworth from Mount Saint Agnes Academy and Iannah Caines from The Bermuda High School for Girls. Each of the winners received a $100 personal gift certificate and a $250 art supplies gift certificate for their school.
The judging committee also granted honourable mentions to the entries submitted by Justin Stovell, Ashley Soares and Sanjie Trimm, all Mount Saint Agnes Academy students, Gabriella Botelho from The Bermuda High School for Girls, as well as Cassandra Daponte and Tamia Burgess from Harrington Sound Primary School.
Alison Hill, Chief Executive Officer, the Argus Group, says: “Reaching out to children with an anti-smoking campaign is an important undertaking as smoking leads to a whole host of health issues, which concerns Argus as one of the island’s leading health insurance providers. For this reason, we were delighted to support Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre’s LungSmart poster competition. The Argus Donation Committee funds a number of prevention programmes as we believe that education is the cure for many of our community’s ills.”
Rhonda Smith-Simmons, Education Officer, Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre, says: “The beauty of this ‘Don’t Start – Be LungSmart’ competition is that it enables children to actively learn about the dangers of smoking, as well as other personal and social reasons for deciding not to smoke, while they develop their creative skills in designing a poster. Furthermore, as the campaign posters are designed by children to be seen by their peers, we can be sure than they are age-appropriate and engaging so that they help the anti-smoking message to really hit home.”
The winning posters will be displayed for public viewing in the lobby at the Argus building at 14 Wesley Street in Hamilton from today until December 4.
As part of the LungSmart programme to discourage children from smoking, Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre provides interactive presentations to Yr. 6 and Middle School students throughout the island.
LungSmart Poster by Cree Dunn from Harrington Sound Primary School
LungSmart Poster by Iannah Caines from The Bermuda High School for Girls
LungSmart Poster by Cailey Longworth from Mount Saint Agnes Academy
