Paige Upham, a fifth-grader at
South Point Elementary, drew her way to a third place finish in
the 2007 Minnesota Tar Wars Poster Contest. Her poster, which
states ‘Strike Out Smoking’, shows a bowling alley with a strike
occurring in the smoke-free lane. Posters were judged on
artistry, creativity, originality and their ability to
communicate a clear POSITIVE message to remain tobacco-free.
The Tar Wars program is taught by family physicians, family
medicine residents, medical students and other health care
professionals who join together to address the issue of
youth-targeted marketing and access to tobacco. These
volunteers go into classrooms across the state and share the Tar
Wars message. The program is filled with fun and interactive
lessons focusing on the long and short-term effects of tobacco
use, image-based effects of tobacco use and reasons people use
tobacco.
For her efforts, Upham will be awarded a $50 cash award and a
Tar Wars t-shirt.
The posters were judged by more than 400 family physicians
during the Minnesota Academy of Family Physician’s Spring
Refresher on April 19-20, 2007. First place went to Anna Van
Wyk of Eagan, MN. Second place went to Gunnar Ewert of Marine
on St. Croix, MN.
Tar Wars was developed in 1988 by the Hall of Life at the Denver
Museum of Natural History and Doctors Ought to Care (DOC). It
has been implemented in 50 states and is owned and operated by
the American Academy of Family Physicians. Tar Wars was
introduced in Minnesota during the 1996-97 school year. The
program reaches close to 400,000 children nationally and
internationally each year.
