The Watauga Soil and Water Conservation District has announced the winners from a recent competition to encourage students to become more responsible stewards of the land.

“Soil and water, these two very important resources are essential in order to survive. Therefore, we, as individuals, need to strive to conserve and protect our water and our soil,” a spokesperson for the district said.
The district sponsors programs and contests each year to get area students involved in thinking about preserving the earth’s resources.

The district would like to recognize the students for their participation in its most recent contest, those who competed at regional competition, and those who will now compete at the state level.

Fourth-graders participated in a T-shirt contest, while the fifth-graders designed a poster. Sixth-graders wrote an essay concerning the topic, and seventh- and eighth-graders delivered speeches. All the entries were judged, and winners receive money and ribbons at the school and county levels.

Awards were presented at the annual awards ceremony on March 24 at the Agriculture Conference Center in Boone. Ribbons and money totaling $550 were presented to the first, second, and third place winners in each category. Honorable mention ribbons were also presented.

Hardin Park’s first place winner in the T-shirt contest was Emily Whitaker; second place was Katie Patton; and third place was Corey West. Deirdre Roseman, Emma Harkins and Alli Brown received honorable mentions.

Valle Crucis T-shirt winners included Meghan Smith, first place; Blake Howser, second; and Zachary Estus, third.

Winners of the poster contest at Cove Creek were Madison Winebarger, first; Shea Powers, second; and Kelly Glenn, third. Luke Foster and Megan Gottfried received honorable mentions.

Green Valley poster winners were Madi Zaidel, first; Freya MacKinnon, second; and Addie Hall and Mary Davis, third place.

Nate Estus placed first at Valle Crucis; Courtney Cramblit, second; and Kinley McCoury, third. Gabriela Cordero received an honorable mention.

In the essay contest, Ashley Branaman placed first at Green Valley; Sarah Combs placed second; and Rachael Hawkins placed third.

Speech winners from seventh-grade at Bethel were Trevor Eggers, first; Caleb Presnell, second; and Daniel Ward, third.

Eighth-grade speech winners were Michaela Sutherland, first place, from Bethel; Hallie Leonard, second place; and Jessica Gabbard, third place.

The first place school winners competed at the county level. First place county winner for the T-shirt contest was Meghan Smith from Valle Crucis; and second place was Emily Whitaker from Hardin Park.

County winners in the poster contest were Nate Estus, first place from Valle Crucis; Madi Zaidel from Green Valley, second; and Madison Winebarger, third place from Cove Creek.

First place essay winner in the county was Ashley Branaman from Green Valley.

First place seventh-grade county speech winner was Trevor Eggers from Bethel.

First place eighth-grade county speech winner was Michaela Sutherland from Bethel.

The first place winners from the county competed at the area level, which involves 12 other counties. Meghan Smith placed third in the fourth-grade poster contest with her T-shirt. Nate Estus received first place in the poster contest for fifth-graders. Ashley Branaman from Green Valley placed third with her essay at the area competition. Trevor Eggers from Bethel received an honorable mention at the area level in the seventh-grade speech contest; and Michaela Sutherland also received an honorable mention in the eighth-grade speech competition.

“Congratulations to Nate Estus from Valle Crucis. Since his poster won first place at the area level, he will now compete at the state level against seven other areas. Good luck to Nate. We are very excited to have Nate representing our area at the state competition,” a spokesperson for the district said.

“These students and all the others who participated in our contests deserve recognition and congratulations for a job well done,” the spokesperson said. “Thanks to all of you who had a part in making this program possible. We feel it is very important to help educate the students of today because they are the decision-makers of tomorrow. Protecting our natural resources for the future is important to all of us.”

This county program is made possible through funds received from Watauga County and the continued support of the Watauga Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors, which consists of Denny Norris, Thad Taylor, Diane Deal, Jim Bryan and Frank Payne.

“A special thanks to Little Caesar’s for their donation of pizzas for everyone to enjoy,” the spokesperson said.