Calling All Georgia Fifth-Graders! Show Us How You and Your Family 'Get Ready'

GEMA’s Ready Georgia launches art and essay contest to empower kids to prepare for the unexpected

(ATLANTA) – Ready Georgia, the emergency preparedness campaign from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), is asking fifth-grade students across the state to recognize National Preparedness Month in September with a creative art and essay contest about preparing for the unexpected.

The contest theme is “Get Ready Georgia,” and students are encouraged to draw upon their personal experiences of how their families have already prepared for an emergency or how they plan to prepare. Students can produce original artwork that portrays one or more of the steps of emergency preparedness, or write an essay of 500 words or less that describes the steps for emergency preparedness and why it is important.

“Every Georgian, even children, should know how to prepare for emergencies and how to respond if the unexpected happens,” said Charley English, director of GEMA and the Office of Homeland Security. “During National Preparedness Month this contest is a good way for families to talk about disasters, which can sometimes be an unsettling subject to address. By learning how to be ready, children can be confident about safety and help their families be their own first responders.”

Children and their parents are encouraged to explore Ready Georgia's Web site together to learn more about the three simple steps it takes to be ready – create a Ready kit, develop a family communications plan and stay informed about potential local threats– and use what they learn to create their entry. Art contest submissions could include drawing a picture of the family’s emergency meeting location or painting a picture of the items in a Ready kit. Essays can describe what a student’s family has done to prepare, or the ways kids can help teach people in their community how to get ready.

Three judges from across the state of Georgia will review the entries and select winners in October 2009.

First, second and third prizes will be awarded in each category and all six winners will be featured on the Ready Georgia Web site and Facebook page. Prizes include:

• First Place: A Ready kit donated by Ready Georgia sponsor The Home Depot, a Disney DVD and CD prize pack donated by Radio Disney and a glow-in-the-dark star kit donated by Imagine it! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta
• Second Place: A Ready kit donated by The Home Depot, a Disney DVD and CD prize pack donated by Radio Disney and a beading kit or spiro giro pen donated by Imagine it! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta
• Third Place: A Ready kit donated by The Home Depot and a Disney DVD and CD prize pack donated by Radio Disney

To enter, students and their parents should download and complete an entry form. Entries and the entry form should be mailed to:

Ready Georgia Contest
c/o Cookerly Public Relations
3500 Lenox Rd., Suite 510
Atlanta, GA 30326

Essay entries may also be submitted via e-mail, contest@ready.ga.gov. All entries must be submitted, or postmarked if sent by mail, by September 30, the last day of National Preparedness Month. For more information about the contest or to play fun preparedness games and learn what Rex, the Ready Kids mascot, has to say about being ready, visit the ReadyKids page.

About Ready Georgia
Ready Georgia is a statewide campaign designed to educate and empower Georgians to prepare for and respond to natural disasters, pandemic outbreaks, potential terrorist attacks and other large-scale emergencies. The campaign is a project of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and provides a local dimension to Ready America, a broader national campaign. Ready Georgia aims to prepare citizens for maintaining self-sufficiency for at least 72 hours following an emergency, and uses an interactive Web site, online community toolkit, broadcast and print advertising and public awareness media messaging to reach its audiences. Ready Georgia is also on Facebook and YouTube.