MEXICO – Tar Wars, a program of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and a tobacco-free education program, is presented to fourth- and fifth-grade students across the country and internationally. The program is made possible through a community collaboration.

This year 14 fourth-grade classrooms (more than 200 students) in the River Valley area received the Tar Wars presentation, which consists of a discussion on a number of topics, including short-term effects of using tobacco, financial costs, reasons people use tobacco and advertising.

Student are then invited to participate in a poster contest depicting the positive effects of being tobacco free and to develop a catchy slogan for their poster.

In every classroom overall top winners are chosen, with one overall regional winner for the best slogan. The winning slogan this year was” Hey! Smoking is not Fair for Those Who Want to Breathe Clean Air! by Sydney Petrie of Meroby Elementary School.

Classrooms are re-visited and every student receives a free Tar Wars T-shirt with the overall winning slogan printed on the back. Each classroom winner has his/her poster ironed-on to their T-shirt.

This year’s classroom winners are as follows:

Meroby Elementary School

Teacher, Coffin; first place, Haley Cole; second place, Sydney Petrie, first place regional winner; third place, Random Gurney; teacher, Fuller; first, Brooke Sweetser; second, Breann Ross; third, Alex Ridley; teacher, Giberson; first, Katelyn Cummings; second, Tasia McCann; third, Ross Gross.

Woodstock Elementary School

Teacher, Ferland; first, Madison Prentice; second, Morgan Sweetser, second place regional winner; third, John Walker.

Peru Elementary School

Teacher, Deprey; first, Nicole Dumond, third place regional winner; second, Makenzie Lord; third, Jonathan Barrett; teacher, Holmquist; first, Deven Parent, fourth place regional winner; second, Ben Buck; third, Ellie Jasper; honorable mention, Jordyn Turner.

Crescent Park Elementary School

Teacher, Jerome; first, Amber Souve; second, Tarin McLaughlin; third, Tucker Hayward; teacher, Haines; first, Jillian DeLallo; second, Shylyn Buckman; third, Taber Pasternak; honorable mention, Becca Howard; teacher, Morin; first, Dylan Cherkis; second, Luke Angevine; third, Brandon Stearns.

St. Athanasius St. John Elementary School

Teacher, Venskus; first, Madeline Kaubrys; second, Valerie DeRoehn; third, Austin Oswald.

Rumford Elementary School

Teacher, Breau; first, Kelli Trenoweth; second, Joshua Maillet; third, Alexis Wardwell; honorable mention, Kylie Glover; teacher, Richard; first, Kaitlyn Radcliffe; second, Holden Blauvelt; third, Tyler Knox.

Dixfield Elementary School

Teacher, Giambattista; first, Desirae Tracy-Rackcliff; second, Gavin Arsenault; third, Gabrielle Chartier; honorable mention, Clay Swett and Kaitlyn York; teacher, Fuller; first, Madison Masse; second, Dean Bryant; third, Kylie Palmer.