Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
April 17, 2008 issue
Students Honored for Entries in Watauga Soil and Water Conservation District Contest
The Watauga Soil and Water Conservation District sponsors programs and contests each year to encourage students to become more responsible stewards of the land. The district would like to recognize the students for their participation in this year’s programs based on the topic We All Live in a Watershed.
Fourth graders participated in a T-shirt contest, fifth graders designed a poster, sixth graders wrote an essay, and seventh and eighth graders delivered speeches. All the entries were judged, and winners received money and ribbons at the school and county levels.
Awards were presented to the winners at the Annual Awards Ceremony on March 31. Ribbons and money totaling $835 were presented to the first, second and third place winners in each category. Honorable Mention ribbons were also presented.
T-shirt winners at Bethel School were first place, Olivia Phillips; second place, Jessica Isaacs; third place, Carrington Taylor. T-shirt winners at Blowing Rock were first place, Olivia Grimm; second place, Heather Ostwalt; and third place, Anthony Piasecny; Honorable Mentions were Isabella Metts, Lacy Holder, Jericho Coffey and Noah Clark. Green Valley’s first place winner was Maya Weaver; second place was Reba Cox, and Joe Norris placed third. Hardin Park's first place winner was Rainy Cerney; second place was Kinsey Greene; and third place was Kassandra Alverez. Graham Roten and Beth Ashley received Honorable Mentions. Valle Crucis t-shirt winners included Courtney Cramblit, first place; Brody O’Neal, second; and Olivia Handley, third.
Winners of the poster contest at Bethel were Taylor Edmisten, first; Alex Reese, second; and Colby Scott, third. Green Valley poster winners were Rebecca Rice, first; Rachael Hawkins, second; and Sarah Combs, third place. Michael Delano Holland placed first at Valle Crucis; Dakota Shook, second; and Ryan Loflin, third.
In the essay contest Trevor Eggers placed first at Bethel; Caleb Presnell placed second; and Zachary Wilson placed third. Essay winners from Green Valley were Kristen Jones, first; Heather McCurry, second; and Amie Sigmann, third. Essay winners from Hardin Park were Sidney Wiswell, first place; Adam Goetz, second; and Hannah Reeves, third.
Speech winners from seventh grade at Bethel were Hallie Leonard, first; Michaela Sutherland, second; and Robin Henson, third.
Eighth grade speech winners were Arrington Hense first place from Bethel, Kelly Harroll second place and Heather Perry third place.
The first place school winners competed at the county level. First place county winner for the T-shirt contest was Olivia Phillips from Bethel; tie for second place were Rainy Cerney from Hardin Park and Courtney Cramblit from Valle Crucis; and third place was Maya Weaver from Green Valley. Olivia Grimm from Blowing Rock received an Honorable Mention.
County winners in the poster contest were Michael Holland, first place from Valle Crucis; Rebecca Rice from Green Valley, second; and Taylor Edmisten, third place from Bethel.
Essay winners in the county were Kristen Jones, Green Valley, first; Sidney Wiswell, Hardin Park, second; and Trevor Eggers, Bethel, third.
First place seventh grade county speech winner was Hallie Leonard from Bethel.
First place eighth grade county speech winner was Arrington Hense from Bethel.
The first place winners from the county competed at the area level that involves twelve other counties. Olivia Phillips received an Honorable Mention in the fourth grade contest with her T-shirt. Michael Holland received third place in the poster contest for fifth graders. Kristen Jones from Green Valley received an Honorable Mention for her essay at the area competition. Hallie Leonard from Bethel received an Honorable Mention at the area level in the seventh grade speech contest, and Arrington Hense also received an Honorable Mention in the eighth grade speech competition.
This program is made possible through funds received from Watauga County and the continued support of the Watauga Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors. A special thanks to Papa John’s and Domino’s for their donations of pizzas.