With the number of water-related fatalities in Montana at five times the national average, water safety is serious business. PPL Montana believes that if students have fun learning about water safety they can enjoy water recreation and be safe.
With the start of the school year, PPL Montana is sponsoring a water-safety poster contest for students in grades three through five in elementary schools in Billings, Butte, Colstrip, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula, Polson and Thompson Falls.
The contest, which is a hands-on learning activity, runs through October 17.
The students can choose any outdoor water activity – swimming, fishing, canoeing, etc. – and draw a poster that contains an important message about safety around Montana’s many lakes, rivers and streams. Tommy Trout, an energetic cartoon character, is the contest’s safety mascot.
PPL Montana will feature nine prize-winning posters and Tommy Trout on a special 2006 PPL Montana Water Safety Poster Calendar for distribution to schools, community leaders and PPL facilities in Montana.
"Montana is one of 10 states where drowning surpasses all other causes of death to children ages 14 and under," said Lisa Perry, PPL Montana’s manager of Community Affairs. "These accidents often result from a lack of knowledge about the dangers around water. Educators can make a difference by using this fun contest to impart important and possibly lifesaving lessons to their students."
In December, PPL employees will select the nine winners – a grand-prize winner, a runner-up and an honorable mention for each grade level. Each grand-prize winner will receive a certificate and two shares of PPL Corporation stock, runners-up will each receive a certificate and one share of stock, and honorable-mention recipients will receive a certificate. All participating students will receive a special thank you from PPL Montana.
PPL Montana will also give $50 for instructional materials or supplies to each teacher of grand-prize winners. In addition, the first 50 teachers who submit their students’ posters will receive a special gift from PPL Montana.
PPL Montana, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. With about 500 employees, PPL Montana operates the coal-fired Colstrip and Corette power plants and 11 hydroelectric facilities along the Missouri, Flathead, Clark Fork and Madison rivers and Rosebud Creek. PPL EnergyPlus, another PPL subsidiary, operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale energy market. More information is available at http://www.pplmontana.com.