Lower Dauphin Middle School seventh-grader Spencer Hock earned second place in a statewide poster contest sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Radon Division. Spencer's poster featured a drawing of Frankenstein and the message, "Radon causes monstrous lung cancer."

Radon is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that can kill. The Surgeon General lists radon exposure as the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. This radioactive element comes from the ground and can easily enter homes and other buildings through foundation openings, and the only way to detect the amount of radon present is to test. The poster contest was designed to inform Pennsylvanians of the danger of radon in their homes and raise their awareness of the importance of testing their homes for radon.

Spencer is a student in Elizabeth Kirman's STEM class.