Carson Valley Middle School student Ana Marquez from Gardnerville placed first in the 2019 Nevada Radon Poster Contest with her poster, "Radon: Test Your Home Now."

University of Nevada Cooperative Extension's Radon Education Program conducts the Nevada Radon Poster Contest each year to educate students and their families on the dangers of radon in the home, and to encourage Nevadans to test their homes for radon, a radioactive, colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that comes from the ground. Radon can accumulate in homes and can cause lung cancer.

All three of the winners for this year's Nevada Radon Poster Contest were from Carson Valley Middle School and had the same teacher, Lin Falkner. For placing first, Marquez will receive $75, and her poster was entered into the National Radon Poster Contest. Jacob Lewis will be awarded $60 for his second-place poster, "The Silent Killer." Sarah Farnham will receive $45 for her third-place poster, "Radon - Not Welcome." Falkner will receive $50, $35 and $20 for classroom supplies as her students placed first, second and third in the contest.

Each winner will receive a certificate, cash prize and radon giveaways at the award ceremony at 6 p.m., Jan. 17, at the CIVIC Hall, 1604 Esmeralda
Ave., in Minden.

This is the 10th year that the Nevada Radon Education Program has participated in the Radon Poster Contest that is open to children, ages 9 to 14. The contest is sponsored by the Nevada Radon Education Program, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

This year's Nevada Radon Poster Contest had 123 entries. The winning posters were chosen by votes from personnel from the state Radiation Control Program; University of Nevada Cooperative Extension; College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources; Nevada Radon Education Program; Nevada's radon industry; program partners and volunteers; and Facebook Likes.

The Nevada Radon Education Program is a program of University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and is funded by the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health. Since the program began in 2007, more than 28,000 homes have been tested in Nevada. Free test kits are available at Cooperative Extension offices and partner locations throughout the state until the end of February.