UNK PEER EDUCATION PSA TAKES FIRST PLACE IN NATIONAL CONTEST

Ismael Torres
Health Education coordinator, 308.865.8092.

An alcohol abuse prevention public service announcement (PSA) created by University of Nebraska at Kearney Peer Health Education students and staff recently took first place in the National Alcohol Screening Day PSA Contest, sponsored by CollegeResponse.

The PSA, which was co-written by Samantha Mitchell of Grand Island and Ismael Torres, UNK Health Education coordinator, shows a group of students–a jock, scholar, lovers, and textr– in a classroom with a voice explaining that anyone can be at risk for an alcohol use disorder. The PSA then directs the viewer to HowDoYouScore.org for more information. The PSA was edited by Torres and Samantha Linton of Dalton. CollegeResponse has uploaded the winning PSA to YouTube athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zFq6BNSttY 

This is the second national award the UNK Peer Health Education alcohol education has received in recent years. OkSOBERfest was named Program of the Year by Bacchus and Gamma, an international peer health education network. The event, which is open to all UNK students, includes activities such as sobriety tests, Black Jack, karaoke and Battle of the Bs. Battle of the Bs is a contest where students answer questions about binge drinking.   The UNK Peer Health Education Office also sponsors the It Ain’t Pretty campaign, a campaign to educate UNK students about the risks of binge drinking. The campaign targets UNK students using posters and videos to grab their attention and educate them on the risks of binge drinking. For more information on the UNK It Ain’t Pretty campaign, visit: www.itaintpretty.org.

UNK Peer Health Education program is comprised of nationally trained and certified students who educate and counsel others on the topics of alcohol, tobacco, sexual health and body image.

UNK students involved in the award winning PSA are listed below alphabetically by hometown,

Amherst – Rex Bauer
Dalton – Shannon Linton (co-editor, co-producer)
Grand Island – Samantha Mitchell (co-writer, director)
Kearney – Carl Corder, Jordan Skyler, Kaylee Troyer (co-producer), Tyler Troyer
Norfolk – Garrett Reimers
Polk – Grace Edson