2004 National Story Writing Competition for At-Risk Youth Positively Negative HIV/AIDS - Youve Thought About It, Now Write About It With Spike Lee, Morgan Freeman & Robert Rodriguez as final round judges

Spike Lee, Morgan Freeman, writer/director Robert Rodriguez and other notable celebrities will judge Select Medias national HIV/AIDS prevention story-writing contest for youth at-risk. The winning story will be turned into an educational film and included in Select Media's research-based award winning Making Proud Choices! HIV intervention program for at risk youth.

(PRWEB) July 15, 2004 -- Spike Lee, Robert Rodriguez and Morgan Freeman are among the noted celebrities reaching out to African-American and Latino youth as final round judges for a National HIV Story-Writing contest that will result in an educational film about HIV written by and for at risk youth.

A study released by Emory University at the week-long 15th International AIDS Conference Sunday in Bangkok, Thailand, and to be published in the upcoming Journal of American Medical Association shows that interventions which reach sexually active African-American girls with culturally targeted materials can have a life-saving impact.

"This is important research and the findings indicate a need for culturally targeted materials about HIV prevention," says Dr. Loretta Sweet Jemmott, Director of the Center for Urban Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. "Unfortunately, there are not many available."

The Positively Negative HIV Story Writing Competition was designed to fill this void. The contest was inspired by the "Be Proud! Be Responsible!" intervention which was written and evaluated by two University of Pennsylvania professors, Drs. John & Loretta Jemmott and their team. The curriculum findings, like the Emory University Research, also report life-saving results with African-American and Latino youth in the Journal of American Medical Association.

"The competition is a fantastic way to inspire a lot of kids to think about their vulnerability to HIV. Whats even better, is that the resultant film will be included in the "Be Proud! Be Responsible!" curriculum which is already in use by hundreds of youth serving organizations nationally," says Dr. Loretta Jemmott.

Contest entry forms are available at www.selectmedia.org. The contest is open to all youth ages 14-22 and the deadline for submissions is November 5, 2004. Stories must be between 3-5 pages (typed, double-spaced or neatly written) and will be accepted via postal mail. The winner will be announced December 1, 2004 on World AIDS DAY. The winner will receive $500.00 and will have their story adapted into an educational film that will be seen by millions of youth over the next decade.

The contest is presented by Select Media, Inc. in cooperation with HEAR ME Productions and the University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing Center for Urban Health Research.

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