November 15, 2007
Local Youth Participate in Poster Contest

By Linda Larson-Butler

Art is an effective way to express not only a person’s emotions or ideas, but also one’s personal convictions. Art can also be used to inform not only the public, but the artist as well.

To bring the important message of conserving our natural resources to the youth of our nation, the National Association of Conservation Districts promotes and teaches natural resource stewardship with a yearly poster contest, through the individual district offices in every state. The Lincoln County Conservation District does their part by sponsoring our local contest and educating our children about the important role conservation plays now, and in the future. With this knowledge, students create a poster to promote a specific theme that emphasizes a certain ideal or aspect about conservation. There are cash awards at the local, state and national levels for the winning posters and the competition is open to youth in grades K-12. In Lincoln County, only the elementary schools participated in this year’s event. This year’s theme was “Conservation’s Power.”

“There were so many wonderful entries,” said Maggie Orr, who volunteers as a judge for the county conservation district, “it was very hard to choose the winners.” After careful consideration, the winners were selected and their posters were then sent to compete in the state contest. Those that win at the state level would then go to the national level. Our children did very well, two each placing second and third at the state level. The cash prizes for the county and state levels were: First, $25.00; Second, $20.00; and Third, $15.00. In Lincoln County, there was an additional $5.00 prize for Honorable Mention. Congratulations to all these fine artists!

The county level results:
K-1st grade
1st Place – First grader Tyler Thompson of Pioche. He also placed 2nd in his division at the state competition.
2nd Place – First grader Emily Hansen of Pahranagat Valley.
3rd Place – Kindergartener Julia Looney of Pioche. She also placed 3rd in her division at the state competition.
Honorable Mention – Kindergartner Natalia Romero of Pioche.
Honorable Mention – First grader JuliAnn Lamb of Pahranagat Valley.

2nd – 3rd grade
1st Place – Third grader Derek Mathews of Pioche. He also placed 2nd in his division at the state competition.
2nd Place – Second grader Keely Davis of Pahranagat Valley.
3rd Place – Third grader Kenzie Wright of Pioche.

4th – 6th grade
1st Place – Fifth grader Aspen Wilkin of Pioche.
2nd Place – Fourth grader Asia Frehner of Panaca. She also placed third in her division at the state competition.
3rd Place – Fifth grader Jillyn Katschke of Caliente.
Honorable Mention – Fifth grader Darion McClam of Caliente.