Water safety is serious business. To help students have fun learning about water safety, PPL Montana is sponsoring a poster contest for students in Grades 3-5.

Students can choose any outdoor water activity, such as swimming, fishing or canoeing, 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. Deadline for contest entries is Oct. 20. Information about entering the contest has been sent to elementary schools in communities across Montana where PPL has employees. It also can be found by clicking here.

“Drowning is a leading cause of death for children ages 14 and under in Montana,” said Lisa Perry, PPL Montana’s manager of community affairs. “These accidents sometimes happen because children don’t understand the dangers around water. Educators can make a difference by using this fun contest to provide water safety information that could save a child’s life.”

In November, PPL employees will select nine winners — a grand-prize winner, a runner-up and an honorable mention for each grade level. Grand-prize winners will receive shares of PPL Corporation stock valued at $100; runners-up will receive shares of PPL Corporation stock valued at $75; and honorable-mention winners will receive shares of PPL Corporation stock valued at $50. Teachers of grand-prize winners will receive a $50 gift certificate from PPL Montana for instructional materials or supplies.

PPL Montana will feature the nine prize-winning posters and Tommy Trout on a special 2007 PPL Montana Water Safety Poster Calendar that will be given to schools, community leaders and PPL facilities in Montana.
 
PPL has 500 employees in Montana who generate and sell electricity. PPL Montana operates coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric power plants along Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. It has a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts and has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL EnergyPlus operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale and retail energy market. PPL Montana and PPL EnergyPlus are subsidiaries of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL).