Georgia students are joining the fight against human sex trafficking in the state. The Georgia Department of Education announced winners of its state-wide poster winning contest:Not in Georgia. Open to high school students, the competition was held to promote a national hotline for reporting and preventing the crime.
Two winners from the Regional Education Service Agencies (RESAs) areas were chosen. An English poster and a Spanish poster were picked. They will be distributed to those areas and displayed in the schools in their region.
The 1st place winning posters will now be judged to determine one state winner for the English poster and one state winner for the Spanish poster. The state winners will be announced in December 2012. State winners will receive $250.
Given that it is estimated that 5,000 girls are victims of sex trafficking, these students should be applauded for not standing idly by, but instead using their artistic talents to raise awareness of the issue.
Who knows how many victims may be helped because they saw messages coming from their peers on what to do and where to turn.
A list of the finalists and winners appear here.
Sex Trafficking Poster Contest Winners Metro RESA:
English Winner: Terea Abernathy - Stephenson HS
First Runner-up (English): Danielle Sharief - Stephenson HS
Second Runner-up (English): Nina Wilks - Ronald McNair HS
Spanish Winner: Nancy Ramirez - Cross Keys HS
Coastal Plains RESA:
English Winner: Lucy Walker - NE Campus Tift County HS
North GA RESA:
English Winner: Melannie Badillo - North Murray HS
First Runner-up (English): Karina Paniagua - Dalton HS
Second Runner-up (English): Alma Rangel - North Murray HS
West GA RESA:
English Winner: Cammie Armstrong - Carrolton HS
First Runner-up (English): Aaron Wilford - Carrolton HS
First District RESA:
English Winner: Morgan Moseley - Wayne County HS
First Runner-up (English): Sydney Howard - Wayne County HS
Second Runner-up (English): Katlynn Peacock - Wayne County HS
Spanish Winner: Saresa D. Pearce - Golden Isles Career Academy
Griffin RESA:
English Winner: John Hornsby - Woodland HS
First Runner-up (English): Jenni Loveless - Whitewater HS
Spanish Winner: Jenni Loveless - Whitewater HS
First Runner-up (Spanish): Samantha Remley - Whitewater HS
Southwest GA RESA:
English Winner: Maura Butler - Cairo HS
First Runner-up (English): Payge Hampton - Cairo HS
Second Runner-up (English): Tyler Angelier - Cairo HS
Pioneer RESA:
English Winner: Logan Helton - White County Ninth Grade Academy
First Runner-up (English): Becca Pontes - White County Ninth Grade Academy
Heart of Georgia RESA:
English Winner: Amanda Jarrard - West Laurens HS
First Runner-up (English): Lakena Meminger - Dublin HS
Second Runner-up (English): Ashley Arthur - West Laurens HS
Middle GA RESA:
English Winner: Kaitlin Swinson - Jones County HS
First Runner-up (English): Hannah Miller - Jones County HS
Second Runner-up (English): Ashley Elander - Jones County HS
Northeast GA RESA:
English Winner: Marlee Kirby - Elbert County HS
First Runner-up (English): Amelia Rangel - Elbert County HS
Second Runner-up (English): Keona Brown - Elbert County HS
Spanish Winner: Erika Perez - Elbert County HS
First Runner-up (Spanish): Casy De la Rosa - Elbert HS
Chattahooche-Flynt RESA:
English Winners (Group Project): Taylor County HS Ansleigh Jarrell
Erin Scott
Nina Nguyen
Laura Kay Bazemore
Chansie Willis
Amy Bazemore
Oconee RESA
English Winner: Tierra Myrick - Putnam County HS
Northwest GA RESA
English Winner: Shyla Crenshaw - Paulding County HS
First Runner-up (English): Taylor Voraphongphibul - Paulding County HS
Second Runner-up (English): Katherine Hydrick - Paulding County HS
