Sanders County students win big in wildfire prevention art contest

Several Sanders County students were big winners as the Keep Montana Green (KMG)Association announced the winners of its 56th-annual Wildfire Prevention Art Contest.

Held in conjunction with Wildfire Awareness Month in May, the contest is meant to educate Montana’s youth on ways to reduce human-caused wildland fires and to be safe with fire and assist educators with teaching fire safety, prevention and conservation.

Jenny Lee Scrivner (9th grade) of Hot Springs High School was awarded $100 as the first-place winner in the 7-9th-grade division at the state level while Julia Larson (12th grade), also of Hot Springs, won $50 as the third-place winner in the 10-12th-grade division.

Second-grader Davin Graves of West Elementary School in Laurel was the overall Statewide All-Division Winner, taking home $125 in prize money.

2017 marks KMG’s 56th art contest, in which 3,000 students and 133 teachers from 100 schools from across the state participated. The art entries were first judged regionally where first, second, third were decided. Then, those entries were sent to Missoula to be judged at the state level. The state winners received ribbons, cash prizes and statewide recognition.

Businesses across the state will be displaying the student’s artwork along with a KMG social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter.

Since KMG’s formation at the end of World War II, the organization has been dedicated to the prevention of human-caused wildfires. KMG was formed in 1945, chartered as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization in 1961 and is governed by a Board of Directors representative of its membership. The Montana Department of Natural Resources and

Conservation has supported KMG since its inception and continues to provide the association with an Executive Director and office facilities. KMG maintains active public education and media programs focused on the prevention of wildfires in Montana.

Nine out of ten wildland fires were human-caused in 2016. KMG’s mission and the goal of the art contest are to promote awareness on how to prevent human-caused wildfires.

The contest theme this year was, “One Less Spark One Less Wildfire.”

Sanders County was well represented in the regional level of competition with the first place winner and four honorable mention selections in the 10-12th-grade senior division and first, second, third and two honorable mention selections in the 7-9th-grade junior division.

Winners at the regional level included:

SENIOR DIVISION

10th-12th grade

1st Place — Julia Larson, 12th Grade, Hot Springs High School, Ms. Johnson

2nd Place — Teaira Truman, 10th Grade, Charlo High School, Ms. Fultz

3rd Place — Brock Tomlin, 10th Grade, Charlo High School, Ms. Fultz

Honorable Mention — Kassidy Kinzie, 10th Grade, Plains High School, Mrs. Cole

Honorable Mention — Rebecca Johnson, 11th Grade, Plains High School, Mrs. Cole

Honorable Mention — Derick Curry, 10th Grade, Plains High School, Mrs. Cole

Honorable Mention — Mackenzie Angle, 10th Grade, Plains High School, Mrs. Cole

JUNIOR DIVISION

Seventh-ninth grade

1st Place — Rayven Hoffman, 9th Grade, Plains High School, Mrs. Cole

2nd Place — Jenny Lee Scrivner, 9th Grade, Hot Springs High School, Ms. Johnson

3rd Place — Jake Weyers, 9th Grade, Plains High School, Mrs. Cole

Honorable Mention — Emma Turner, 9th Grade, Plains High School, Mrs. Cole

Honorable Mention — Elizabeth Nyde, 7th Grade, Bigfork Middle School, Mrs. Britt

Honorable Mention — Elayna Hagen, 7th Grade, Bigfork Middle School, Mrs. Britt

Honorable Mention — Louis Venicek, 7th Grade, Thompson Falls Jr. High, Ms. Wheeler

Honorable Mention — Vivian Rahn, 7th Grade, Olney Bissell School, Ms. Szalay, Whitefish

Honorable Mention — Brooke Alder, 8th Grade, Charlo Schools, Ms. Hertz

Honorable Mention — Annelieses DeGrandpre, 8th Grade, Charlo Schools, Ms. Hertz