KALISPELL — Students of St. Matthew's Catholic School in Kalispell came together for a statewide billboard contest with the Montana Meth Project, and it was their banner that won it all.
"It was a big team effort, we all helped, we all pitched in quite a bit," said student Xander Levengood.
Students spent six months perfecting their banner for the Montana Meth Project's Summer Billboard Art Contest that spreads a powerful message: "One pill can kill."
The organization saw this as a chance to get real with young people about fentanyl and why taking someone else's pills could be a fatal mistake.
"Only now in the last year and a half have we really added fentanyl to our offerings. We couldn't just stand by and watch young adults being needlessly and unknowingly poisoned by fentanyl that's being laced into illicit pills," said Montana Meth Project Executive Director Amy Rue.
Watch to hear from those involved in the billboard contest:
The winning billboard features Flathead Lake on one side, thriving and colorful, and on the other, dark and dead.
"They've shown the contradiction between a beautiful life that is drug-free and what it would look like introducing addiction into your life," Rue said.
The banner will be permanently installed on a billboard on U.S. Highway 93 in the Flathead region.
"I think it's such a beautiful opportunity for them to see this as they go by and the parents and the whole of Kalispell," said St. Matthew's School art instructor Tanya Lambrecht.
The Montana Meth Project is also hosting two contests in response to Red Ribbon Week.
Teens who take the #OnePillCanKill Pledge can enter to win a Labubu wearing a #OnePillCanKill shirt.
"Again, trying to get teens to consent to not take pills that aren't prescribed to them," Rue said.
In partnership with Stockman Bank, the organization is also thanking educators who use their fentanyl prevention lesson.
Teachers can enter to win a $500 Visa gift card by emailing a photo of their class engaging in the lesson.
"Just trying to get the message out to everyone with the help of educators, law enforcement, and the public in general," Rue said.
Students hope the billboard will spark conversation and deter anyone from drugs.
"I just want people to know that you don't need meth to get through life, that you have other people around you that can always help you and want to help you," student Stella Harris told MTN.
