Conservation District recognizes art, essay winners
Published 4:04 pm Thursday, April 4, 2019
COUNTY ART WINNERS included, from left, AnnaGrace Kirkpatrick, Waynesburg Elementary, first place, and Jose Tapia Lopez, Stanford Elementary, second place. Absent from photo is third-place winner Bethani Luster, McKinney Elementary.
SCHOOL & COUNTY WRITING WINNERS included, from left, Lily States, second place, and Chloe Ralston, third place, of Lincoln County Middle School. Absent from photo is first-place winner Ramsey King, also an LCMS student.
1ST PLACE SCHOOL ART winners were, from left, Jose Tapia Lopez, Stanford Elementary, AnnaGrace Kirkpatrick, Waynesburg Elementary, and Autumn Durham, Hustonville Elementary. Not pictured is Bethani Luster, McKinney Elementary.
2ND PLACE SCHOOL ART winners were, from left, Bryleigh Rankin, Hustonville Elementary, Kaylee Spears, McKinney Elementary, Joey Murphy, Waynesburg Elementary, and Nolan Hamm, Stanford Elementary.
3RD PLACE SCHOOL ART winners were, from left, Chloe Howard, Hustonville Elementary, Alyssa Garrett, Waynesburg Elementary, Jacob Coley, McKinney Elementary, and Annie Correll, Stanford Elementary.
STANFORD — Creative young students were honored by the Lincoln County Conservation District during its annual awards banquet last Thursday night at Lincoln County Middle School.
Each year, the Conservation District conducts art and writing contests in an effort to raise the awareness of the county’s students to the importance of soil, water, forestry and wildlife conservation. Students take the knowledge they have gained and transform it into creative art work and essays.
At the annual banquet, the District takes the time to reward the outstanding youth conservation art and writing winners.
The topic of this year’s contests was “Diggin’ It!” Schools participating in this year’s contests were Hustonville, McKinney, Stanford and Waynesburg elementaries and Lincoln County Middle School.
McKinney Elementary and Waynesburg Elementary each received a cash award from District Supervisors Kevin Kirkpatrick and Dale Osterman for having 100 percent participation in the art contest.
The first-place county winner in this year’s art contest also turned out to be the overall state winner, with AnnaGrace Kirkpatrick taking the top prize at the local and state levels. The 10-year-old artist, the daughter of Kevin and Tiffany Kirkpatrick, is a fifth-grade student at Waynesburg Elementary.
Some of Kirkpatrick’s favorite activities are cooking, baking, doing craft projects, decorating, playing volleyball and watching tutorial videos. Topping the list of her favorite pastimes is being with her family on the farm.
Jose` Tapia Lopez, the son of Patrician Lopez and Jose Tapia, is this year’s second-place county artist. Lopez, 9, is a fourth-grade student at Stanford Elementary. His favorite activities are archery and basketball.
The third-place art winner was Bethani Luster, a fifth-grade student at McKinney Elementary. Luster, 11, the daughter of Ron and Marcella Luster, enjoys playing softball and basketball in her spare time.
Justin Poynter of PBK Bank and W.C. Brogle, Lincoln County Conservation District Supervisor, made the presentation of the county art awards.
The first-place award in the Conservation District’s county writing contest went to Lincoln County Middle School seventh-grader Ramsey King. King, 12, is the son of Norb and Colette King. Soccer, video games and cross country are activities King enjoys participating in.
Lily Danielle States was named the second-place county writing winner. States, 13, also a seventh-grader at LCMS, is the daughter of Joe and Norma States. Her hobbies include swimming, volleyball, reading and playing the piano.
LCMS eighth-grader Chloe Jane Bell Ralston claimed the third-place county writing award. Ralston, 15, is the daughter of Steve and Haley Ralston. She enjoys basketball, volleyball, art and acting, as well as being with friends, church and family.
Bud Burdette of Ag-Credit and Supervisor Brogle made the presentation of awards to the county writing winners.
Teacher awards were presented to Cassy Elmore, teacher of county writing winner Ramsey King, and Sharon Everidge, teacher of county art winner AnnaGrace Kirkpatrick.
Elmore said that she feels the conservation contest teaches the students the importance of good stewardship towards our natural resources. She stresses the significance of energy conservation and how some natural resources are non-renewable and are not replenished. Everidge says this contest makes students more aware of their natural resources and what they can do to protect the resources and our environment.
The presentation of the teacher awards was made by Steve Kelley of the Lincoln County Farm Bureau Federation.
The overall school winners in the Conservation District Art Contest, listed by their schools, were:
Hustonville Elementary: Autumn Durham, 1st, Bryleigh Rankin, 2nd, and Chloe Howard, 3rd.
McKinney Elementary: Bethani Luster, 1st, Kaylee Spears, 2nd, and Jacob Coley, 3rd.
Stanford Elementary: Jose` Tapia Lopez, 1st, Nolan Hamm, 2nd, and Annie Correll, 3rd.
Waynesburg Elementary: AnnaGrace Kirkpatrick, 1st, Joey Murphy, 2nd, and Alyssa Garrett, 3rd.
The school writing winners were:
Lincoln County Middle School: Ramsey King, 1st, Lily States, 2nd, and Chloe Ralston, 3rd.
School art and writing awards were presented by District Supervisors John Peek and Kenny Stamper.
