Tykes & Teens honors youth alcohol prevention poster winners

STUART — More than 1,000 visitors to the Martin County Fair showed their support for youth substance abuse prevention by casting votes in the Tykes & Teens Poster Contest.

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Martin County middle school students used knowledge gained in the Alcohol Literacy Challenge curriculum to create their posters. Students combined the information they learned with their creative talents to make the posters, which highlight the dangers of underage drinking, and encourage delay of first use of alcohol to the legal drinking age.

The posters were displayed at the fair Feb. 10-18 with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office sponsoring the contest and providing prizes for all voters.

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Tykes and Teens, a Martin County based nonprofit, administers the Alcohol Literacy Challenge alcohol prevention curriculum in Martin County middle schools, with the goal of decreasing underage drinking and encouraging a healthy lifestyle. Stuart Middle School took first and third place in the contest, while Hidden Oaks Middle took second place and David L Anderson Middle School took fourth place. Students Shani Kimbutte, Brice Rodriguez and Aliana Ramos took top honors with their poster that explored the ways that media manipulates young people to use alcohol. Second place went to Riley Cameron, Brandon Snyder, Kiara Maher, Stephenee Shoemaker and Mia Gifford, while third place was earned by Ashley Genge, Keira Rodriguez and Gloria Zapeta.