MEDIA ALERT

Children’s Storybook Contest Begins in San Ramon Valley

For Immediate Release
Date: January 9, 2008

The fourth annual Street Smarts Poster-Storybook Contest, presented by the Troy and Alana Pack Foundation and Toll Brothers, started on January 7. Each year, elementary school students in the San Ramon Valley participate in the annual contest, where students draw illustrations based on specific traffic safety themes. The contest ends February 1.

In this year’s contest, students are asked to draw traffic safety-related illustrations that will become part of a new children’s storybook written by local author Dana Mentink. The story, “Way Out Visitors” is about aliens who visit Earth and leave a young alien behind. The alien journeys to find a way home and learns about wearing seat belts, wearing helmets, and using crosswalks safely.

Winners of the Street Smarts Poster-Storybook Contest will have their artwork featured in the eight-page storybook. The final book will be unveiled at the Poster-Storybook Contest Awards Ceremony at the San Ramon Community Center on February 28, and distributed at bookstores and libraries throughout the San Ramon Valley.

Last year’s contest drew over 275 entries and nearly 500 community members to the awards ceremony.
The contest, generously sponsored by the Troy and Alana Pack Foundation, Toll Brothers and other community sponsors was created to provide a voice for local children to learn about traffic safety through art and reading.
Elementary school students interested to participate in the contest can enter by picking up an entry form and rules at the Danville, San Ramon or Dougherty Station Libraries, Danville or San Ramon Community Centers, or at their elementary school’s main office. Additional information about the contest is available online at: www.streetsmarts-srv.com
STREET SMARTS, a local partnership involving the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Town of Danville, City of San Ramon, Contra Costa County and the San Ramon Valley Council of PTAs, is a traffic safety education campaign.

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STREET SMARTS, a local partnership involving the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Town of Danville, City of San Ramon, Contra Costa County and the San Ramon Valley Council of PTAs, is a traffic safety education campaign.