LEWISTON – Sierra Edwards, a Lewiston Middle School student, was one of 10 national finalists in the Shade Foundation of America National SunWise Poster Contest. The foundation will launch the online judging for the 2005 SunWise National Poster Contest, awarding one student artist a trip for four to Disney World in Orlando.

The 10 finalists were selected from the 17,000 posters entered in the contest. The finalists will compete in an online competition at www.shadefoundation.org through Monday, July 4. Visitors to the site will vote for their favorite sun-safety poster.

The SunWise Poster Contest required students to draw a sun-safety message in a poster. One finalist was selected from each of the 10 states hosting the contest: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The artists won various local prizes ranging from a meet and greet with Boston Red Sox Pitcher Curt Schilling to a fantasy day at Infineon Raceway in California. Teachers of the winning students also received prizes.

“The Environmental Protection Agency statistics show schools engaging in sun-safety programs have an 11 percent decrease in sunburn cases, a very encouraging statistic,” said Shonda Schilling, founder of Shade.

According to statistics, one in five children will grow up to develop skin cancer. Curt Schilling and his wife, melanoma survivor, Shonda Schilling, created the poster contest in 2003 in an effort to teach children how to protect their skin from the dangers of the sun.

Shonda Schilling launched the foundation after undergoing five surgeries to remove malignant melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.