Georgia students are joining the fight against human sex trafficking in the state. The Georgia Department of Education announced winners of its state-wide poster winning contest: Not in Georgia. Open to high school students, the competition was held to promote a national hotline for reporting and preventing the crime.

Two winners from the Regional Education Service Agencies (RESAs) areas were chosen. An English poster and a Spanish poster were picked. They will be distributed to those areas and displayed in the schools in their region.

The 1st place winning posters will now be judged to determine one state winner for the English poster and one state winner for the Spanish poster. The state winners will be announced in December 2012. State winners will receive $250.

Given that it is estimated that 5,000 girls are victims of sex trafficking, these students should be applauded for not standing idly by, but instead using their artistic talents to raise awareness of the issue.

Who knows how many victims may be helped because they saw messages coming from their peers on what to do and where to turn.

A list of the finalists and winners appear here.

Sex Trafficking Poster Contest Winners

 Metro RESA:

  • English Winner: Terea Abernathy - Stephenson HS
  • First Runner-up (English): Danielle Sharief - Stephenson HS
  • Second Runner-up (English): Nina Wilks - Ronald McNair HS
  • Spanish Winner: Nancy Ramirez - Cross Keys HS

Coastal Plains RESA:

  • English Winner: Lucy Walker - NE Campus Tift County HS

North GA RESA:

  • English Winner: Melannie Badillo - North Murray HS
  • First Runner-up (English): Karina Paniagua - Dalton HS
  • Second Runner-up (English): Alma Rangel - North Murray HS

    • West GA RESA:

  • English Winner: Cammie Armstrong - Carrolton HS
  • First Runner-up (English): Aaron Wilford - Carrolton HS

First District RESA:

  • English Winner: Morgan Moseley - Wayne County HS
  • First Runner-up (English): Sydney Howard - Wayne County HS
  • Second Runner-up (English): Katlynn Peacock - Wayne County HS
  • Spanish Winner: Saresa D. Pearce - Golden Isles Career Academy

    • Griffin RESA:

  • English Winner: John Hornsby - Woodland HS
  • First Runner-up (English): Jenni Loveless - Whitewater HS
  • Spanish Winner: Jenni Loveless - Whitewater HS
  • First Runner-up (Spanish): Samantha Remley - Whitewater HS

    • Southwest GA RESA:

    • English Winner: Maura Butler - Cairo HS
    • First Runner-up (English): Payge Hampton - Cairo HS
    • Second Runner-up (English): Tyler Angelier - Cairo HS

    Pioneer RESA:

    • English Winner: Logan Helton - White County Ninth Grade Academy
    • First Runner-up (English): Becca Pontes - White County Ninth Grade Academy

    Heart of Georgia RESA:

    • English Winner: Amanda Jarrard - West Laurens HS
    • First Runner-up (English): Lakena Meminger - Dublin HS
    • Second Runner-up (English): Ashley Arthur - West Laurens HS

    Middle GA RESA:

    • English Winner: Kaitlin Swinson - Jones County HS
    • First Runner-up (English): Hannah Miller - Jones County HS
    • Second Runner-up (English): Ashley Elander - Jones County HS

    Northeast GA RESA:

  • English Winner: Marlee Kirby - Elbert County HS
  • First Runner-up (English): Amelia Rangel - Elbert County HS
  • Second Runner-up (English): Keona Brown - Elbert County HS
  • Spanish Winner: Erika Perez - Elbert County HS
  • First Runner-up (Spanish): Casy De la Rosa - Elbert HS

    • Chattahooche-Flynt RESA:

    • English Winners (Group Project): Taylor County HS Ansleigh Jarrell
    • Erin Scott
    • Nina Nguyen
    • Laura Kay Bazemore
    • Chansie Willis
    • Amy Bazemore

    Oconee RESA

    • English Winner: Tierra Myrick - Putnam County HS

    Northwest GA RESA

    • English Winner: Shyla Crenshaw - Paulding County HS
    • First Runner-up (English): Taylor Voraphongphibul - Paulding County HS
    • Second Runner-up (English): Katherine Hydrick - Paulding County HS