Fifth Grader Wins Ohio's 2016 Severe Weather Awareness Poster Contest
The winner of the annual statewide contest was recognized Aug. 6 at the Ohio State Fair for her tornado safety poster.
Grace Draeger, who was a fourth grader in Sandusky County during the 2015-2016
school year, was named the winner of the Ohio Committee for Severe Weather Awareness' annual severe weather awareness poster contest when she was recognized Aug. 6 at the Ohio State Fair. Her poster on tornado safety is a watercolor illustration of a tornado with the message, "When the tornado siren whines, Eyes to the sky and look for signs!"
The committee seeks to educate Ohioans about natural disasters and encourages state residents to prepare for severe weather before it happens. The organization, in coordination with the governor, promotes statewide severe weather safety campaigns twice per year: in the spring, usually during the last week of March, and late fall, generally during the third week of November. And a statewide tornado drill is conducted during the Spring campaign, with county emergency management agencies testing their warning sirens.
The committee chose Draeger's poster as the most informative, accurate, and creative entry. She received a check to go toward a $100 U.S. Treasury Direct savings bond, a
letter of congratulations from Gov. John Kasich, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Weather Radio, a smoke detector, a trophy, a Community Emergency Response Team backpack and disaster supply kit, and other prizes.
This fall, her school will receive an engraved "traveling" trophy to showcase for the remainder of the school year, and the committee will feature her poster throughout the year.
Six other students, one from each elementary grade, were announced as state-level winners and received prizes and awards as a total of 38 students from 20 Ohio counties were honored as regional winners.