Grand Prize Winner
Emiya Carolyn Gallman, 8th Grade
Longleaf Middle School

Columbia, SC— Eighteen students will receive awards in this year’s Conservation Poster Contest sponsored by the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). Student posters addressed the topic “Healthy Soils Are Full of Life,” raising awareness about the importance of healthy soils and their uses. Student posters represented healthy soils in a variety of ways, from colorful cross-sections of the earth showing soil horizons full of earthworms, insects, fungi, and other organisms to paintings of people, plants, and the earth made with soil pigments. This year’s winners are:

• Grand Prize: Emiya Carolyn Gallman, 8th Grade, Longleaf Middle School

K-1st Grades:

• First Place: Evan Carl Outlaw, Kindergarten, Catawba Trail Elementary

2nd-3rd Grades:

• First Place: Ethan Carl Outlaw, 3rd Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary
• Second Place: Susie Kohel, 3rd Grade, Harmony School
• Third Place: Natalee Kaufman, 2nd Grade, AC Moore Elementary
• Honorable Mention: Abdulrahman Mohammed Kamil, 2nd Grade, AC Moore Elementary

4th Grade:

• First Place: Ella Catherine Gillam, 4th Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary
• Second Place: William Taylor Fair, 4th Grade, Bethel-Hanberry Elementary
• Third Place: Devin J. Gamble, 4th Grade, Bethel-Hanberry Elementary
• Honorable Mention: Sean Xavier Lopez, 4th Grade, Bethel-Hanberry Elementary

5th-6th Grades:

• First Place: Erin Nicole Kohn, 6th Grade, Sisalto Instituutti
• Second Place: Abrianna Nicole McClerklin, 5th Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary
• Third Place: Henry Windham, 5th Grade, Harmony School
• Honorable Mention: Catherine Grace Milburn, 5th Grade, Catawba Trail Elementary

7th-9th Grades:

• First Place: Vijay Katiah Gottipaty, 7th Grade, Dent Middle School
• Second Place: Taylor Noelle Kohn, 8th Grade, Sisälto Instituutti
• Third Place: Jasmine Taina Gonzalez, 8th Grade, Longleaf Middle School

10th-12th Grades:

• First Place: Mary Kathryn Davidson, 11th Grade, SC Association of Independent Home Schools

Winners will receive cash prizes and will be recognized at the Richland SWCD’s Annual Awards Banquet on May 18th. Some of the winning posters will be on display in the main branch of the Richland County Public Library through the month of May. Five entries will progress to the state competition sponsored by the SC Association of Conservation Districts.

More than ninety students at eight schools submitted entries to this year’s contest, and many more—some 755 students at 14 schools—learned about the contest topic through interactive presentations conducted in classrooms across Richland County. “I think it is imperative that children learn…how a healthy soil translates into healthy plants and a healthy environment, and how our actions directly impact the health of these resources,” says Richland SWCD Commissioner Jeff Laney. “They say ‘if you want anything to grow, you have to love it.’ Well, we love our children, and we love helping them grow their knowledge and appreciation for healthy soil and a healthy planet through the education programs of the Richland SWCD.”

The Conservation Poster Contest is an annual education program hosted by the Richland SWCD with support from the SC and National Associations of Conservation Districts. For more information about this or other conservation education programs, contact Chanda Cooper at cooperc@rcgov.us.

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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 of natural resources for the benefit of the citizens of Richland County.

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