1st Place Notecard, K-1st Grade Yaretzi Arzate Arden Elementary School	3rd Place Sculpture, 4th-6th Grade Fifth Grade Garden Club Catawba Trail Elementary School

Columbia, SC—The Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) has selected twenty-eight winning entries from Richland County K-12 Students in the 2015 Arbor Day Youth Contests.  A complete list of winners is below.

This year’s contest theme was “Celebrate Arbor Day,” and students were challenged to respond to the theme using any of four methods: performance/video, writing, recycled art sculpture, and notecard.  Responses ranged from a vocal performance of an original song called “Arbor Day” (Isabel Johnson, 4th Grade, Homeschool) to a “Flowering Tree Stump” sculpture made of a cardboard oatmeal container "stump" covered with "flowers" made from colored  plastic bottles (5th Grade Garden Club, Catawba Trail Elementary School).  Winning entries will be awarded cash prizes, and many will be displayed at the SWCD’s Spring Banquet.  

Arbor Day is a holiday set aside to plant, care for, and celebrate trees.  The first Arbor Day was celebrated in Nebraska in 1872.  While several states observe Arbor Day in spring, South Carolina celebrates Arbor Day on the first Friday in December because winter is the best time for planting trees in our climate.  The RSWCD will celebrate Arbor Day at Catawba Trail Elementary School on Friday, December 4th.  


A.C. Moore Elementary School
Teacher: Nancy Frick
•    Mrs. Nancy Frick’s Class, 1st Place Notecard, 2nd-3rd Grade

Arden Elementary School
Teacher: George Sims
•    Yaretzi Arzate, 1st Place Notecard, K-1st Grade
•    Raymond Maxwell, 2nd Place Notecard, K-1st Grade
•    Shaniya Willis Toatley, 3rd Place Notecard, K-1st Grade
•    Tionna Singleton, 2nd Place Notecard, 2nd-3rd Grade
•    Samantha Juarez, 1st Place Notecard, 4th-6th Grade
•    Marcus Flemming, 2nd Place Notecard, 4th-6th Grade

Catawba Trail Elementary School
Teacher: Vikki Pasco
•    Mrs. Harris’s Third Grade Class, 1st Place Video, 2nd-3rd Grade
•    Mrs. Dickson’s Third Grade Class, 1st Place Sculpture, 2nd-3rd Grade
•    Ms. Gibson’s Third Grade Class, 1st Place Writing, 2nd-3rd Grade
•    Leann Howe, 3rd Place Notecard, 2nd-3rd Grade
•    Fourth Grade Garden Club, 2nd Place Sculpture, 4th-6th Grade
•    Fifth Grade Garden Club, 3rd Place Sculpture, 4th-6th Grade
•    Catherine Milburn, 2nd Place Writing, 4th-6th Grade
•    Nizar Smali, 3rd Place Notecard, 4th-6th Grade

Center for Knowledge
Teacher: Kari Ochoa
•    Madison Han and Hallie Palmer, 2nd Place Video, 4th-6th Grade
•    Mia Flemming, Elle Monroe, and Rachel Twine; 3rd Place Video, 4th-6th Grade

Homeschool
Teacher:  Gaby Johnson
•    Isabel Johnson, 1st Place Video, 4th-6th Grade

Longleaf Middle School
Teacher: Kristin Ziegler
•    Asia Bovian, 1st Place Sculpture, 4th-6th Grade
•    Matthew Landers, 1st Place Writing, 4th-6th Grade
•    La’Tavia Bracey-Ransom and Asia Bovian, 3rd Place Writing, 4th-6th Grade
•    Desmond Jennings, 1st Place Sculpture, 7th-9th Grade
•    Nicolas Gilliam, 1st Place Writing, 7th-9th Grade
•    Acacia Miller, 2nd Place Writing, 7th-9th Grade
•    Aleyana Evans, 3rd Place Writing, 7th-9th Grade

SC Association of Independent Home Schools
Teacher:  Teri Davidson
•    Mary Kathryn Davidson, 1st Place Sculpture, 10th-12th Grade
•    Mary Kathryn Davidson, 1st Place Notecard, 10th-12th Grade
•    Daniel Davidson, 1st Place Writing, 10th-12th Grade

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

Contact