The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Health, today announced the launch of the ninth annual Protect Me With 3+ poster and video contest. The contest challenges New Jersey youth in middle and high school to raise awareness about the importance of adolescent immunizations: tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap), human papillomavirus (HPV), meningococcal conjugate (MenACWY) and flu vaccines.
“Now more than ever, it’s important to educate students about adolescent vaccinations and how they can help prevent serious and life-threatening diseases,” said Dr. Tina Tan, State Epidemiologist and Assistant Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health. “We encourage teachers to make the contest a class project in an effort to raise vaccination rates in their schools and communities.”
Starting today, middle school and high school students can participate in the contest by submitting a hand-drawn poster or an original computer-generated poster that integrates key facts about one of the adolescent vaccines listed above. Middle school and high school students also have the option to submit a video up to 30 seconds long in the place of a poster. This year, poster and video submissions will be accepted electronically at www.protectmewith3.com/submit. If a student is selected as a finalist, they will be provided with a pre-stamped envelope to mail-in their original poster. A public vote will then select the top three winners in each category.
“The Protect Me With 3+ contest is a great tool for remote learning and helps students develop important team building skills,” stated Ilise Zimmerman, President and CEO of the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey. “As we all work together to keep our communities safe during the pandemic, raising student and parent awareness about the importance of adolescent vaccinations can help to reduce the spread of potentially deadly diseases.”
The submission deadline is January 24, 2021. Prizes will be awarded to the top three entries in the video and poster categories, and the winning entries will be showcased during various statewide immunization awareness activities.
Additionally, students who submit entries by January 1, 2021 will be entered into random drawings to win prizes courtesy of Protect Me With 3+ event sponsors. For more information about Protect Me With 3+ sponsorship opportunities, visit www.protectmewith3.com/sponsors.
The top five finalists in each of the three categories will be posted on www.protectmewith3.com for public voting in March. The winners will then be announced and honored at a virtual awards ceremony in May.
New Jersey teachers are encouraged to make the Protect Me With 3+ contest a class project. As an added incentive, prizes will be awarded to the classrooms with the most eligible submissions in each of the three categories. For more information on remote learning tools and interactive materials for schools, visit http://www.protectmewith3.com/schools/.
Information regarding eligibility, video and poster submission guidelines, and contest rules can be found at www.protectmewith3.com.
About the Partnership
The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation, licensed by the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH). Its mission is to improve the health of women, children, and families. The Partnership has more than 20 years of experience mounting community-based, consumer-friendly and culturally competent educational programs to parents, caregivers, pregnant women and individuals of child-bearing age. For more information visit, http://partnershipmch.org.
To learn more about vaccinations, visit the New Jersey Department of Health’s website: http://www.nj.gov/health/cd/imm_requirements/.