Six West Valley City high school students are among the winners of the 2024 Utah High School Clean Air Marketing Contest. 

Yoselyn Zavala, Pisila Venus Malu, Wybie Gruber, Kylie Skousen, Johnny Lopez Perez and Jennifer Bertho Diaz—all of Granger High School—joined 16 other students from around Utah and southeastern Idaho in being recognized for creating standout clean air public service announcements. They were selected from 1,000 students who submitted entries in the competition sponsored by Utah State University. The Granger students received awards ranging from $100 to $250. 

According to a press release from contest sponsor Utah State University, the Utah High School Clean Air Marketing Contest was created in 2015 by professors Roslynn Brain McCann of USU Extension Sustainability and Edwin Stafford of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at USU. 

“PSAs designed by teens combine art, science and savvy marketing to encourage Utahns to help keep the air healthy through carpooling, using alternative transportation, limiting idling and trip chaining (completing multiple errands at a time to limit unnecessary driving). The messaging and artwork are often provocative, funny, edgy and tied to teen pop culture,” the release stated. 

“The winning PSAs will be displayed for educational outreach across the state and on social media.” 

Organizers say the contest “is intended to raise Utahns’ awareness of air quality issues by helping youth who are learning to drive to understand how their new driving privilege can impact air pollution. It also helps high school students learn ways to preserve air quality, especially during Utah’s polluted winter inversion season, such as refraining from idling and engaging in carpooling.” 

“Our research shows that the contest is having an impact beyond the teens in educating Utahns about how to help keep the air healthy,” McCann said. 

A panel of 36 judges evaluated the final entries. λ