SALT LAKE CITY — Utah children have a chance to boost awareness about the dangers of indoor radon by entering a poster contest coordinate by the state of Utah in partnership with Kansas State University and the EPA.

Children ages 9 to 14 are eligible, with the entry deadline set for Oct. 15. State and national winners will receive cash rewards. All those who enter at the state level will be entered in the national competition, but entries are limited to one per child.

Poster topics must include one of the following themes: what is radon; where it comes from; how it gets inside homes, the fact that it causes cancer, or that homes can be tested.

Last year, poster contest winners were: Marissa Funke, first, South Hills Middle School, Riverton; Jessica Edmondson, second, Taylor Elementary School, Payson; and Alisha Kirkland, third, Provost Elementary, Provo.

An eighth-grader’s poster on the dangers of radon takes first place in a competition.

When Logan Stewart, 14, started working on an assignment to do a poster on the dangers of radon, she had no inkling it would be powerful enough to win national attention. But the poster by Logan, an eighth-grader at Hollywood Academy of Arts and Science, won first place in the National Radon Poster contest, which drew 4,000 posters submitted from 33 states, six tribal nations and a military installation.

Her colorful poster features silhouettes of a father and son with the title Keep Your Family Safe. It also states that radon can cause lung cancer. Logan said she wanted to “make people aware” of the dangers of the radioactive gas, which her poster notes is “colorless, odorless, tasteless.”

One of Logan’s eighth-grade teachers , Carolyn Garreau-Jones, wanted students to sign up for the competition, though they also created the poster for a grade.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Safety Council's Radon Awards Ceremony, held tonight at the National Press Club, will recognize individuals and organizations for their contributions to reducing deaths from radon. Radon, a colorless, odorless and tasteless natural gas, is our nation's second leading cause of lung cancer, after smoking. Radon is linked to about 21,000 cancer deaths each year. It is estimated that residents of one in every 15 homes are exposed to unsafe levels of radon.

At tonight's ceremony, National Safety Council president and CEO Janet Froetscher will deliver opening remarks and award the winners of the NSC's 2009 National Radon Poster Contest, recognizing young people for their artistic efforts to educate the public about the importance of testing for radon. 2009 poster contest winners include:

1st place: Shana Stone, age 10, grade 6, Good Hope, Ga.
2nd place: Raquel Goldman, age 13, grade 8, Hollywood, Fla.