Georgia Fifth-Graders Show They Are Prepared For Whatever Comes Their Way
Ready Georgia announces winners of its National Preparedness Month art and essay contest
(ATLANTA) – Fifth-grade students from across the state are getting ready for the unexpected and proved just how well they understand the importance of disaster preparedness by sending in hundreds of creative art and essay entries during Ready Georgia’s National Preparedness Month contest held in September.
Ready Georgia, the emergency preparedness campaign from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), asked students to recognize National Preparedness Month by submitting original artwork or essays that demonstrate why it is important to prepare for natural or manmade disasters and how they have helped their families prepare.
September’s heavy rains and floods made the contest even more impactful for hundreds of affected students, and the contest’s theme “Get Ready Georgia” encouraged children to draw upon those personal experiences and describe the steps they have taken to prepare for an emergency.
Entries ranged from poems, plays and fiction to collages, watercolors and even an entry submitted in Braille. Winners hail from across Georgia:
Essay Winners
First Place: Danielle Hatten; West Town Elementary, Albany
Second Place: Syretha Long, Callaway Elementary, Jonesboro
Third Place: Madisson Woodruff, Heard Mixon Elementary, Covington
Art Winners
First Place: Raven Ortiz; Johnston Elementary, Woodstock
Second Place: Emerson Cruz; Varnell Elementary, Dalton
Third Place: Tahirih Williams; Peyton Forest Elementary, Atlanta
Honorable Mention
Na’im Harris; Button Gwinnett Elementary, Hinesville
Kabria Fountain; M. E. Lewis, Sr. Elementary, Sparta
Linwood Richardson; West Clayton Elementary, College Park
“All of the insightful entries showed us that children enjoy being part of the preparedness process and that knowing what to do and where to go makes them feel more secure during what could be a threatening situation,” said Charley English, director of GEMA and the Office of Homeland Security and a contest judge. “It was tough to choose just a few winners.”
Other judges were Karen Kelly with Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta; Lisa Janak Newman of GEMA; and Carol McEntee from Cookerly Public Relations.
First, second and third place winners will be awarded prize packages from Radio Disney, Imagine It! and Ready Georgia corporate sponsor, The Home Depot. All winning entries will be featured on the ReadyKids page and Facebook page.
Families interested in learning more about emergency preparedness in Georgia can visit the prepare, plan and stay informed pages on the site. Parents can create customized Ready kit checklists and communications plans, and children can play interactive games with preparedness information just for them.
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About Ready Georgia
Ready Georgia is a statewide campaign designed to educate and empower Georgians to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, pandemic outbreaks, potential terrorist attacks and other large-scale emergencies. The campaign is a project of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and provides a local dimension to Ready America, a broader national campaign. Ready Georgia aims to prepare citizens for maintaining self-sufficiency for the 72 hours following an emergency, and uses an interactive Web site, online community toolkit, television and radio advertising and public awareness media messaging to reach its audiences.
