Published: April 17, 2009 03:53 pm         

Area youth place in Salt Plains art contest Tuesday

Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge conducted the seventh annual Youth Art Contest Tuesday. There was a total of 585 entries judged. Students from Alva, Burlington, Cherokee, Pond Creek-Hunter, Timberlake and Wakita participated in the contest.

All entries were judged anonymously. Judges were Leslie Collins, El Dora Wood, Doug Murrow and Wanda Gray. The artwork will be showcased April 24-26 at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge during the annual Birding and Heritage Festival.

Contest winners received a $50 savings bond for first place. Winning entries can be viewed online at www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/saltplains/artcontest. To pick up an art contest magnet, stop by the refuge visitor center.

Winners and honorable mentions are:



Kindergarten through second grade



Kenedy Brown, Longfellow Elementary in Alva, first place; Jake Thorp, Timberlake, second place; Brittany Wiederkehr, Pond Creek-Hunter, third place. Honorable mentions were Peighton Harouff, Pond Creek-Hunter; Stephanie Spellman, Longfellow Elementary in Alva; Sophie Cummins, Timberlake; and Blake Lee, Longfellow Elementary in Alva.



Third through fifth grade



Caitlin McCart, Pond Creek-Hunter; Kylie Johnson, Timberlake, second place; Rochelle Wright, Pond Creek-Hunter. Honorable mentions were Cathy Maples and Lexie Shafer, Lincoln Elementary in Alva; Abbie Newman, Burlington; Tucker Buss, Pond Creek-Hunter.



Sixth through eighth grade



Jessica Unruh, Cherokee; Kate Birkenfeld, Timberlake; Cheredan Vap, Burlington. Honorable mentions were Cheyenne Gaff, Timberlake; Austin Huckabee, Cherokee; Grant DeWitt, Cherokee; and Kassidy Thresher, Cherokee.



Ninth through 12th grade



Natalie Crain, Timberlake, first place; Kaleb Williams, Timberlake, second place; Sean Bostwick, Timberlake, third place. Honorable mention was Kristie Trammell, Timberlake.