By Nila Harris
FALMOUTH — The Pendleton County Soil Conservation District on March 27 recognized the winners of this year’s conservation contest at its annual Art and Writing Contest Banquet.
Selecting the top student entries from a field of 427 writing and 530 art submissions from across Northern and Southern elementary schools, and Sharp Middle School proved challenging, according to the district.
The top three kindergarten to second grade winners at Northern Elementary were Finley Thomas, first place; Laila Koeninger, second; and Saorise Brayton, third.
The top three at Southern Elementary were Arnold Poland, first; Leia Hopkins, second; and Daniel Khulenberg, third.
In third to fifth grades, the top finishers at Southern Elementary were Amelia Winkle, first place; Arianna Gallagher, second; and Rory Wright, third.
At Northern Elementary, it was Evelyn Applegate, first; Magdalene VanArsdall, second; and David Turner, third.
The county winners for the art contest were Amelia Winkle, first; Evelyn Applegate, second; and Finley Thomas, third.
For the writing contest, K-2 winners from Southern were Hazel Norber, first, and Kyles Records, second. The K-2 winner from Northern was Kaylee Ortlieb.
The third to fifth writing contest top finishers from Northern Elementary were Maia Staggs, first; Brinley Babb, second; and Monroe Johnson, third.
There were no entries in this category for Southern.
At Sharp Middle School, the writing contest winners were Remmi Prince, first; Daniel Drury, second; and Ellie Fultz, third. The same three finished in the same places in the county writing contest.
Also recognized at the banquet was the Conservation Teacher of the Year Aissatou Gallagher.
The Conservation Person of the Year was awarded posthumously to Boo Singleton, with his children accepting the award in his honor.