Seventh Annual Poster and Video Contest to Raise Awareness for Youth Immunization Throughout New Jersey Launches

NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 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 seventh 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. Last year, the contest received more than 400 total entries from students across New Jersey.

“The Protect Me With 3+ contest is unique because of its ability to educate students about the importance of adolescent immunizations in a creative and collaborative way,” said Dr. Tina Tan, State Epidemiologist and Assistant Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health. “We encourage all New Jersey youth to participate in order to raise vaccination awareness in their cities and schools.”

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 integrate key facts about one of the adolescent vaccines listed above. High school students have the additional option to submit a video up to 30 seconds long in the place of a poster. The submission deadline is January 27, 2019. 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, 2019 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 an awards ceremony in April.

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 and interactive materials for schools, visit http://www.protectmewith3.com/schools/.

“The Partnership is proud to sponsor the Protect Me With 3+ contest in a joint effort with the Department of Health to raise awareness for immunizations among preteens and teenagers,” Ilise Zimmerman, President and CEO of the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey said. “The medical importance of adolescent vaccinations should be a top priority for all parents and educators. We hope that teachers will participate by making the Protect Me With 3+ contest a class project!”

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/.

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