First Place and People's Choice Award-Winning Poster by Harmony School Second Grader Sofia Ananyan

Columbia, SC –Seventeen students will receive awards in this year’s Youth Conservation Poster Contest sponsored by the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). Posters addressed the topic “Where Would We BEE without Pollinators,” which challenged students to imagine a world without pollinators and to raise awareness about ways we can help conserve and protect these essential creatures.

Pollinators such as bees, butterflies, beetles, birds, and bats play a key role in the life cycle of many flowering plants.  By carrying pollen from flower to flower, pollinators enable plants to produce seeds. These seeds, in turn, allow for new generations of plants to grow. Three-fourths of the world's flowering plants depend on pollinators to reproduce, and humans and animals alike depend on these plants for survival. Most fruit, vegetable, and seed crops—and other plants that provide fiber, medicines, and fuel—are pollinated by animals. In fact, nearly one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators!

In their posters, students addressed some of the threats pollinators face, including habitat loss and disease, and explored ways we can protect pollinators by creating pollinator habitats and reducing the use of harmful pesticides.  Students’ posters demonstrated that a world without pollinators would certainly be less colorful and less diverse: all the more reason for each of us to take action to protect pollinators in our communities!

This year’s winners are:

K-1^st Grades:

• First Place: Nadia Guedhami, Kindergarten at the Center for Knowledge
• Second Place: James Harris Hudson, 1^st Grade at Brockman Elementary
• Third Place: Reet Modgill, 1^st Grade at A.C. Moore Elementary
• Honorable Mention: Layla Hoyt Parrish, Kindergarten at Cutler Jewish Day School

2^nd-3^rd Grades:

• First Place: Sofia Ananyan, 2^nd grade at Harmony School
• Second Place: Maya Rekleitis, 3^rd Grade at Harmony School
• Third Place: Zoey Sangal, 2^nd Grade at the Center for Knowledge
• Honorable Mention: Sophia Hudson, 3^rd Grade at Brockman Elementary

4^th-6^th Grades:

• First Place: Sara Guedhami, 4^th Grade at Center for Knowledge
• Second Place: Sarah Becker, 6^th grade at Blythewood Middle
• Third Place: Alex Manuel, 6^th grade at E.L. Wright Middle & Rachel Schoeman, 5^th Grade at Cutler Jewish Day School
• Honorable Mention: William Jacob Davis Cauthen, 4^th Grade at Bethel-Hanberry Elementary

7^th-9^th Grades:

• First Place: Ella Catherine Gillam, 7^th Grade at Longleaf Middle
• Second Place: Brooklynn Kim, 6^th grade at Longleaf Middle & Leia Taylor, 7^th Grade at Longleaf Middle
• Third Place: Samaiya Days, 8^th Grade at Longleaf Middle

Winners will receive cash prizes, and four entries will progress to the state competition sponsored by the SC Association of Conservation Districts. More than 40 students completed and submitted their entries to this year’s contest virtually, and nearly 2,000 students learned about the contest topic through interactive presentations conducted in classrooms across Richland County in late 2019 and early 2020.

The Richland SWCD will solicit the public’s help in bestowing one final recognition: the 2020 People’s Choice Award. A selection of poster entries will be posted on the Richland SWCD’s Facebook page on Monday, June 1, and the public will be asked to “like” their favorite entries during the week of June 1. Voting will close at 11:59pm on Sunday, June 7. The poster with the most “likes” will be named “People’s Choice” and will receive an additional cash prize. 6/8/20 Update: The 2020 People's Choice Award Winner is Sofia Ananyan, a 2^nd grader at Harmony School.

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 cooper.chanda@richlandcountysc.gov.

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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 and care of natural resources for long-term sustainability.

Contact

Richland Soil and Water Conservation District
 2020 Hampton Street, Room 3063A
 Columbia, SC 29204
 Phone (803) 576-2080
 Fax (803) 576-2088
 E-mail soilandwater@richlandcountysc.gov
 Facebook www.facebook.com/rswcd