37 Phelps County students place in Earth Day contest

ST. JAMES­—Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District (ORSWMD) announced 37 Phelps County students were among the 34 first and second place winners and 41 honorable mentions earning prizes in the 25th Annual Earth Day Poster, Trash and Graphic Art contest. This year’s contest theme was “Be Earth Wise.”

“The primary purpose of the Ozark Rivers Earth Day Art Contest is giving youth a voice through art,” said Jill Hollowell, environmental programs specialist at Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC). “We hope this contest stimulated ideas on how to rethink wasteful habits, such as accepting plastic shopping bags to consciously reducing waste by reusing shopping bags.”

The contest required participants to re-purpose trash into three-dimensional pieces of art or create posters (hand drawn or graphically designed), based on this year’s theme. There were 480 entries from 14 schools. The contest was open to kindergarten through 12th grade, homeschool, college and university students who reside or attend school in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties.

“The Earth Day contest is one of my favorite projects – every year the entries just get better and better. What a fun way to educate our kids on being good stewards of our environment,” said Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC’s environmental program manager.

Winners from Phelps County were:

  • Veroniqua Gunter, 1st grade, Lucy W. James Elementary, 1st Place Poster Art.
  • Kirrah Drennan, 1st grade, Lucy W. James Elementary, 2nd Place Poster Art.
  • Caitlynn Maloy, 1st grade, Lucy W. James Elementary, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • McKenzie Fitch, 1st grade, Lucy W. James Elementary, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Ryder Byfield, 1st grade, Lucy W. James Elementary, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Jaylee Hanrahan, 1st grade, Lucy W. James Elementary, 2nd Place Trash Art.
  • Daviv Lo, 1st grade, Lucy W. James Elementary, Honorable Mention Trash Art.
  • Evan Allen, 7th grade, Newburg Middle School, Honorable Mention Trash Art.
  • Wyatt Enke, 7th grade, Newburg Middle School, Honorable Mention Trash Art.
  • Ryan McWilliams, 8th grade, Newburg Middle School, 1st Place Trash Art.
  • Dalton Forester, 8th grade, Newburg Middle School, 2nd Place Trash Art.
  • Austin Thompson, 8th grade, Newburg Middle School, Honorable Mention Trash Art.
  • Nathan Russell, 8th grade, Newburg Middle School, Honorable Mention Trash Art.
  • Shaynna York, 2nd grade, Newburg Elementary School, 1st Place Poster Art.
  • Logan Birdsong, 2nd grade, Newburg Elementary School, 2nd Place Poster Art.
  • Pyper Burton, 2nd grade, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Nicky Collier, 3rd grade, Newburg Elementary School, 1st Place Poster Art.
  • April Sullivan, 3rd grade, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Madelyn Mason, 3rd grade, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Paige Dyer, 3rd grade, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Kailey Pfeiffer, 4th grade, Newburg Elementary School, 1st Place Poster Art.
  • Benjamin Nelson, 5th grade, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Taylor Brookshire, 5th grade, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Gabby Pashia, 6th grade, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art
  • Anthony Zorc, Kindergarten, Newburg Elementary School, 1st Place Poster Art.
  • Marrissa Drew, Kindergarten, Newburg Elementary School, 2nd Place Poster Art.
  • Kyra Moore, Kindergarten, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Kynleigh Hammock, Kindergarten, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Lydia McKinley, Kindergarten, Newburg Elementary School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Kenzie Duvel, 6th grade, Edgar Springs Middle School, 1st Place Poster Art.
  • Kaylee Marrs, 6th grade, Edgar Springs Middle School, 2nd Place Poster Art.
  • Hailey Lucas, 6th grade, Edgar Springs Middle School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Jerzie Mace, 6th grade, Edgar Springs Middle School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Winter Dayton, 6th grade, Edgar Springs Middle School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Maryn Claire Jansen, 7th grade, Edgar Springs Middle School, 1st Place Poster Art.
  • Aubree Thomas, 8th grade, Edgar Springs Middle School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.
  • Wesley Blake, 8th grade, Edgar Springs Middle School, Honorable Mention Poster Art.

Phelps County students participating in the contest were under the direction of teachers Teresa Conway, Ni’Cole Guffey, Amanda Peery, Erin Frisbee and Allison Brookshire-Patterson.

Judges for the contest included Wanda Roberson with Mid America Bank and Sally Carroll and Tishia Gibson-Tsiptsis with Phelps County Bank. The identities of the students and their schools were concealed during the judging process.

The 2017 Earth Day contest was funded through an ORSWMD grant, made possible through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), along with donations from the following area sponsors: Belgrade State Bank, Kaleidoscope Discovery Center, Legends Bank, the Maries County Bank, Mid America Bank, Peoples Bank, Phelps County Bank and Unico Bank.

For more information about ORSWMD or waste reduction and recycling opportunities in the Ozark Rivers area visit www.ozarkrivers.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ORSWMD, or contact Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC environmental programs manager, or Hollowell at 573-265-2993.

The Ozark Rivers District includes Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities with populations of 500 or more. The district’s strategy for solid waste reduction, which has been individually adopted by all member governments and approved by Missouri Department of Natural Resources involves public education and resources for waste reduction in member counties and cities. MRPC provides administration of the district and assists with a variety of implementation projects.

Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. A professional staff of 25, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.

To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion/.

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