Leffler, Cookie
(
4/5/2012 10:56 AM):
JACKSON, MISS., Wednesday, March 21, 2012 --- The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Saris Cycling Group want to congratulate D ‘Iberville Middle School 5th grader Lillian Pham for winning first place in the state in the Saris 2012 Art Poster Contest, which challenged students to create posters based on the theme, “bicycling takes me places.”
MDOT and Saris partnered to sponsor the event in Mississippi, and now Pham’s poster will be sent to Saris where it will be competing with other states’ winners for the national prize.
“Everyone at MDOT would like to congratulate Lillian on her very creative winning poster,” Southern District Transportation Commissioner Tom King said. “We are all very proud of the effort she and all the students who participated put into their entries. We would also like to recognize the teachers whose support made this contest a success. All the posters were very well done.”
For winning the statewide competition Pham will receive a bike, bike light, and helmet. The national winner will win a trip to the 2012 National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., and his or her school will receive bicycle parking for 20 bikes and a bike/walk tracking system called The Hub.
Cookie Leffler, MDOT’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator, who coordinated the contest in Mississippi, said the posters were very impressive.
“What a great first year we had in Mississippi,” Leffler said. “There were 36 thoughtful, beautifully executed entries making the competition tough for the judges. This means only one thing – we have some very talented children in Mississippi.”
Second place in the contest was claimed by Hannah Arnold of Lipsey Middle School in Brookhaven, and Jennifer Kerry of Pearl River Central Upper Elementary School in Carriere, won third.
Voting for the national winning entry will be held online from April 2-6, with the national winner being announced on the Saris website on April 10. To vote go to www.sariscyclinggroup.com.
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