We look forward to partnering with Conquest to provide a Radon Poster School Calendar program for students in schools with high radon indoor air quality levels. Over 21,000 people die each year from radon-related lung cancer. Eighty percent (80%) do not find out about it until they are in stage three or four lung cancer because you cannot see, smell or taste it. The objective of the Radon Poster School Calendar program is to help all students in schools to become aware that radon testing in their homes and schools is important for their health and well being.

With the announcement of the 2020 September issue of CR3 News Magazine dedicated to radon and children going to school and studying from home, it has become important to provide an educational piece for kids that talks about improving indoor air quality in buildings and homes since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the amount of time being spent indoors increasing, Citizens for Radioactive Radon Reduction (CR3) has ramped up awareness about the importance of testing your home and schools for radon gas.

There are over 21,000 deaths /year from radon-related lung cancer. You cannot see, taste or smell it. Radon is a radioactive gas that forms naturally when uranium, thorium, or radium break down in rocks, soil, and groundwater.

With the COVID-19 pandemic looming and symptoms being so similar, CR3 created a new educational awareness National Radon School & Home Study Calendar that will educate school children about radon gas, radon testing, and can be used as a teaching tool. The calendar was developed from past winners artwork submitted to the yearly National Radon Poster Contest held by the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD), the American Lung Association, and State Radon Programs. Schools from all 50 states, U.S. territories, tribal nations are encouraged to participate in the art competition. Winners and runners-up in each state, territory, tribal nation, and DOD Schools are selected; and their posters are then entered into the national contest.

The CR3 National Radon School & Home Study Calendar is expressly designed for school age children, their parents, and school officials and provides radon facts about the risks of radon in their family homes and schools. The calendar is colorful and insightful illustrations are drawn by students, themselves across America. The posters show everyone that our children are concerned about having our homes and schools protected against this silent killer, radon. The resounding message from the CR3 school calendar is that schools, daycares, and homes should be tested for radon especially in this COVID-19 environment.

Benefits:

• A radon calendar can tell the radon story for an entire year.
• A method to get the radon message into homes as well as schools.
• A method of getting the radon message into medical offices.

In 2020, CR3 received a small grant from the Pennsylvania American Lung Association and Dept of Environmental Protection to print 15,000 calendars for distribution to PA school students. We are hoping that this year, along with a grant from Conquest Graphics, we will be able to extend our reach to additional states. The grant will help with printing and distribution efforts to “under-funded” schools in high radon level states. An illustrated copy of the national 2020 calendar can be found at: https://www.conquestgraphics.com/crrr/nationalcalendar 

A printing grant from Conquest Graphics would allow CR3 to distribute more school calendars throughout the U.S. It would help to augment the printing and distribution costs.

Statement of Need:

Create a kid-centric school calendar using the CRCPD Radon Poster Contest winners artwork that highlights the mission of educating children and their parents about radon. The target population this year will be Native American disadvantaged schools with low enrollment. And we will distribute the calendars to small economically disadvantaged schools in some of the highest radon regions.

Distributing the calendar to economically disadvantaged students could help educate them and their parents about testing their homes and schools which will, in turn, improve their health outcomes and educational success. The education funding formulas sometimes fail to provide the dollars needed for school districts to fund core expenses. In wealthier districts, local taxes have been able to fill gaps, allowing schools to provide the educational supports and opportunities students need to succeed. In school districts with larger numbers of low-income (“economically disadvantaged”) students, the amounts schools are able to spend on core expenses are well below what is needed. Calendars will be mailed to each school for free distribution to the children.

Future Expansion:

Citizens for Radioactive Radon Reduction (CR3) would like to expand the Radon School Calendar distribution to new schools each year. Through increased grant funding, the future goal will be to provide school calendars to every state as academic support to children.

To increase the calendar usability as a teaching tool, future designs will include an interactive calendar where teachers and children will be able to scan a QR code and watch an educational video about indoor air quality and radon.

Future distribution channels:

• Book bag giveaways: Insert a calendar into each book bag.
• Food banks
• Firefighters
• Radon industry leaders
• Senators and representatives for distribution to their districts.