Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon Invasive Species Council are enlisting high school students and teachers across Oregon in a multimedia art contest, “Don’t Let It Loose,” urging classrooms to avoid releasing school pets and lab animals into the wild.

Winning student artists and their teachers will receive prizes of up to $400 in each of two categories: static images, and moving media including videos, animations and motion graphics. In particular, organizers are encouraging entries that can be translated into mobile apps and other new technology.

Entries will be judged on how well they convey the “Don’t Let It Loose” message, their visual effectiveness (is the message memorable? Does it compel action?), universal appeal (is the message clear to everyone, regardless of age, language or education level?) and originality.

The contest ties in with an ongoing educational campaign created by Sea Grant’s Watershed and Invasive Species Education (WISE) program, which works to bring invasive species education into the classroom via teacher training, lesson plans and classroom activity guides. The program focuses in part on the perils of turning non-native classroom animals loose in the environment, where they can out-compete native species and become major pests. The program got a boost last year from Oregon cartoonist Jan Eliot, whose popular syndicated cartoon “Stone Soup” featured a storyline about the issue, and who permitted Sea Grant to use her cartoon image in its education campaigns.

For details about the contest, which has a March 15, 2015 deadline, visit the OISC Website.