Students from across Colorado took top honors in this year’s annual radon awareness poster and video contest.
Bayleigh Rivera, a sixth-grader from Windsor Middle School, won first place and earned $300 for her sub- mission. Her poster (pictured) will be entered in the National Radon Poster Contest, sponsored by the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, the American Lung Association, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Her poster will be displayed on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s radon website www.coloradoradon.info for 2024.
Elexus Montalvo, from Fowler Jr. High School, earned second place and $200. Lily Kuberski, from Risley International Academy of Innovation, received third place and $100.
Malachi Vasquez, a senior at South High School in Pueblo, received first place in the radon awareness video contest, $300, and the video will be entered into the National Radon Video Contest. Ella Ericson, from Mountain Vista High School, earned second place and $200. Jade Ertl, from Estes Park High School, received third place and $100.
“These contests are a fun way to educate students, their families, and the general public about radon, which occurs naturally in the soil,” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “Testing your home for radon is easy to do, and it’s the only sure way to tell whether your home is affected by radon.” The Department is offering free radon test kits to Colorado residents at www.coloradoradon.info, while supplies last.
The teachers of the top six students received $100 gift cards as well.
Long-term exposure to radon — a colorless and odorless radioactive gas — is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers and the second-leading cause of lung cancer in smokers. Exposure to radon is responsible for approximately 500 lung cancer deaths in Colorado each year.
Source: Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
