First Place, Mary Kathryn Davidson, 12th Grade
SC Association of Independent Home Schools

Columbia, SC— Seventeen students will receive awards in this year’s Conservation Poster Contest sponsored by the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).  Student posters addressed the topic “Watersheds:  Our Water, Our Home,” raising awareness about the importance of healthy watersheds and the ways our actions affect water quality.  Student posters illustrated the topic in a variety of ways, from a colorful atlas of South Carolina’s major watersheds to paintings demonstrating how to keep watersheds clean.  This year’s winners are:

K-1st Grades:

• First Place: Natalie Elizabeth McElveen, 1^st   Grade, Logan Elementary School
• Second Place: Evan Carl Outlaw, 1^st  Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary School
• Third Place: Rylie Nicole Cureton, Kindergarten, Catawba Trail Elementary School

2nd-3rd Grades:

• First Place: Tanner James Toogood, 2^nd Grade, Lake Carolina Elementary School
• Second Place: Marvin Jayvien Rivera, 3^rd Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary School
• Third Place: Emerson Jane Edwards, 2^nd Grade, Bookman Road Elementary School
• Honorable Mention: Jacob Wilcox Schatz, 2^nd Grade, AC Moore Elementary School
• Honorable Mention: Siulis Adara Diaz Diaz, 3^rd Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary School

4th-6th Grades:

• First Place: Ella Catherine Gillam, 5^th Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary School
• Second Place: Ethan Carl Outlaw, 4^th Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary School
• Third Place: Sherlyn Sanchez Romero, 5^th Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary School
• Honorable Mention: Lily Margaret Shelton, 5^th Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary School
• Honorable Mention: Raymond Moses, 5^th Grade, Joseph Keels Elementary School

7th-9th Grades:

• First Place: David Donald Vandelay, 7^th Grade, Dent Middle School
• Second Place: Ashanti Robinson, 9^th Grade, Lower Richland High School

10th-12th Grades:

• First Place: Mary Kathryn Davidson, 12^th Grade, SC Association of Independent Home Schools
• Second Place: Zoria King, 11^th Grade, Lower Richland High School

Winners will receive cash prizes and will be recognized at the Richland SWCD’s Annual Awards Banquet on May 17^th.  Five entries will progress to the state competition sponsored by the SC Association of Conservation Districts.

Nearly 100 students submitted entries to this year’s contest, and hundreds more learned about the contest topic through interactive presentations conducted in classrooms across Richland County.  By participating in these programs and the poster contest, “students are learning how to make a difference in small ways,” says Elizabeth Karnavas, a University of South Carolina senior and Richland SWCD Conservation Intern.  “Sometimes negligence toward the environment is the result of a lack of knowledge, and these programs help students gain that environmental knowledge in a fun and memorable way.”

The Conservation Poster Contest is an annual education program hosted by the Richland SWCD with support from the South Carolina and National Associations of Conservation Districts.  For more information about this or other conservation education programs, contact Chanda Cooper at cooperc@rcgov.us. 

Conservation Districts are political subdivisions of state government under the local direction of five-member Boards of Commissioners. In South Carolina, Conservation District boundaries conform to County boundaries.  The Richland Soil and Water Conservation District promotes the wise use of natural resources for the benefit of the citizens of Richland County.

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