Home Schooled Student Wins TBI Missing Children Poster Contest

Nashville -- A home schooled student from Gray, Tennessee is the winner of the state's Missing Children Poster Contest. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation recently named 10-year-old Ryley Parker as the winner.

Ryley's artwork was chosen because of the different forms of transportation he used to portray the different ways missing children could be transported back to their families. The 5th grade winner enjoys building with Legos, art class, reading, nature, animals and collects antique fishing lures, coins and Star Wars figures.

The U.S. Department of Justice, through its Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Child Protection Division, sponsors an annual Missing Children Poster Contest for 5th grade students to develop artwork that will represent America's united goal to bring missing children home safely. TBI is the clearinghouse for missing children in the State of Tennessee and held the contest at the state level which focused on the theme: Bring Our Missing Children Home.

Each year, more than 1.3 million children are reported missing in the country. The U.S. Department of Justice takes time to commemorate the valiant and unselfish acts of the many organizations and individuals who bring our missing children home. Ryley Parker's artwork will be entered in the national contest on behalf of the State of Tennessee.

The winning artwork will be displayed at the National Missing Children's Day ceremony, to be held on May 25, 2011. The national winner will win a trip to travel with his/her parents to Washington D.C. to participate in a ceremony.

Published March 19, 2011