Berkeley County School District is excited to recognize its students who placed in the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE)’s Kids for Conservation Arts Competition.
Philip Simmons Elementary fifth grader Cori Richardson claimed first place in the poster competition, while Daniel Island School fifth grader Lucas Diminich took second.
Meanwhile, Marrington Middle School of the Arts seventh grader Zoey Ginnings placed second in the poetry competition.
Tri-county students in first through 12 grades were invited to showcase their creativity – while promoting wildlife conservation – through the art contest. The hope is to engage young artists while instilling a passion for protecting the environment.
Students in first through fifth grades were invited to submit drawings or paintings. Students in sixth through eighth grades could submit original photography or poetry. The upper grade levels were asked to build custom-designed birdhouses created from recycled materials.
Richardson decided to enter the contest after learning about it from her art teacher, Jessica Moss. After being inspired by a book that featured a hawk on the cover, Richardson decided to illustrate the bird perched on a limb with a stream of water in the background.
Richardson was pleasantly surprised when Moss recently called her to her classroom to let her know she had won the poster competition.
“I felt really happy and grateful,” she said, adding, “I was actually surprised that I won.”
Richardson said art is one of her favorite subjects. She usually draws with color pencil – her favorite thing to draw is cartoon characters – but decided to step out of her comfort zone for the hawk poster.
“For this project I decided to do watercolor,” she said. “I thought it was something new I’d like to try out.”
Richardson credits Moss for getting her involved in the contest and encourages other inspiring artists to just keep at it.
“Even if you don’t think your art looks good you should keep trying,” she said. “You might get a big accomplishment.”
Liminich’s poster depicts a gopher tortoise “going for a walk” on the beach. Liminich made his artwork out of colored pencil after learning about the contest from his art teacher, Lauren Rice.
“The turtles natural habitat is in the sand dunes and he was going for some food,” Liminich said.
Liminich is actually a skilled math student at Daniel Island School but said he enjoyed participating in the contest and was pleased when he learned he placed second.
“I felt very happy and excited,” he said.
His advice to other young artists dipping their toes in an artistic competition: “Just take your time and don’t rush.”
Ginnings is a chorus major at Marrington Middle School of the Arts. Her poem centers on all the different sounds one would hear while visiting the beach – like crashing waves, gusts of wind and boisterous seagulls (read poem below).
Ginnings also credited her art teacher in informing her about the contest; Kristin Brown keeps a board in her classroom with a list of art competitions to encourage her students to submit their artwork.
As soon as she learned about the contest, Ginnings said she immediately thought about the beach and wanted it to be the focus of her work.
“I love art and I like drawing, but poetry has always come more freely to me,” she said.
She said the hardest part of writing her poem was figuring out what senses to include and leave out – since there are so many.
“When you try to write something, you just got to go with what makes you feel the most emotion – positive or negative,” she said. “Just write down the first thing that comes to your head.”
Kids For Conservation entries will be on display throughout February at the Main Branch of the Charleston County Library and will also be featured in an online gallery at www.sewe.com.
Symphony Of The Shore
As I walk along the shore I stop to listen
When I pause I hear the symphony of the shores
The crickets sing with high reaching chirps,
The frogs join in with the breeze
The grass dances and bows
After the performance is done all you hear
Is the applause of the waves.
As I walk down the path I continue to think
About how I should stop
And listen more.
-Zoey Ginnings