November 15, 2007, ST. LOUIS – After Chelsea Bunning finished telling her fellow sixth graders about the dangers of smoking, the crowd applauded a bit louder than they did for other speakers.

That''s because it wasn''t an ordinary essay Bunning read at her school assembly of 150 students. Instead, she told the audience why an anti-smoking message hit close to home for her.

"About a year ago, my Dad passed away from cancer and cancer can sometimes start from smoking," said Bunning, a sixth grader at Lone Dell Elementary School in Arnold, MO. "Please don''t smoke, because when you get older you could pass away the same way as my Dad did."

Bunning was a winner among her fifth and sixth grade classmates at Lone Dell in the annual Siteman Cancer Center art and essay contest "Keep Kids Tobacco Free." This year, Siteman, the St. Louis Blues and Pfizer, Inc. worked with Lone Dell and seventh and eighth graders at Turner Branch Big Picture Middle School (with the help of Siteman''s Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities) to design artwork and write essays encouraging young people to be smoke-free. In addition, the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital worked with the sixth, seventh and eight graders of Sacred Heart School in Troy, MO.

The winning artwork is now emblazoned on t-shirts given to the school''s students and faculty at November school assemblies.

Blues players Steve Wagner and D.J. King attended the school assemblies, while winger David Backes and new team mascot Louie joined the students for a field trip to Siteman on November 15 for the "Siteman Smokeout for Life." At the Smokeout, the students learned of the dangers of smoking by seeing diseased lungs and performing pulmonary function tests to see their own lung health.

Overall, Lone Dell''s Bunning and Bradley Diekmann and Big Picture''s Elijah Williams and Jaslyn Chatman were named first place winners. At Sacred Heart, Laura Kaimann and Jessica Luebbert were first place winners.

"We''ve had the opportunity to offer the contest for three years now, and we''re always impressed with how creative the students are," says Linda Gidday, manager of marketing at the Siteman Cancer Center. "When the kids are asked if they know anyone who smokes and they all raise their hands, it shows how important ''Keep Kids Tobacco Free'' can be."

Winners were given gift certificates to an area mall and also received tickets each to the Monday, November 19 Blues game against the Nashville Predators where they were honored between periods.

Additional support for the "Keep Kids Tobacco Free" program came from Papa John''s Pizza, St. Louis Bread Company, and 7-Up/Dr. Pepper.