Kids’ posters help county drive point about environment
Published 10:20 pm Sunday, June 14, 2009
EVERETT — A big machine called the “tree mauler” barrels toward a stand of trees, where a man stands in the way, telling the driver to stop.
The driver has second thoughts.
“He’s right,” the driver thinks.
That scene from the hand of Mount Pilchuck Elementary fifth-grader Zaijen Santos was one of the winning entries for the Snohomish County Art Contest 2009. The theme was Greening Our Future.
Second-grade winner Cassandra Galvez, also from Mount Pilchuck, drew a jungle populated by butterflies, a monkey and a large spotted cat.
“We’ve been studying about the rainforest and we’ve been studying about conservation,” said Brenda Dykgraaf, her teacher. “It tied in so nicely because the kids could tell you how the rainforests are disappearing through slash and burn for farming (and) logging.”
The illustrations have been livening up the eighth floor at the county administration building east. Councilmen recently picked their favorite entries from kindergarten through fifth grade. The National Association of Counties chose the theme.
Winners from other grades were: Lily Hanna, fourth grade, Kent Prairie Elementary; Renae DeLorm, third grade, Silver Firs Elementary; Nagisa Sugiyama, first grade, Endeavor Elementary; and Erika Dawson, kindergarten, Seattle Hill Elementary.
For the past two years, the County Council has used winning entries on the cover of its annual budget book, said Kathryn Bratcher, the clerk of the council. The council hopes the contest teaches children about county government and encourages them to visit on field trips, she said.
Winners’ prizes include admission to Imagine Children’s Museum, admission to the Evergreen State Fair and a backpack filled with toys and other prizes.
The county parks department wants to display reproductions of the winning pictures at its campgrounds or the amphitheater at Willis Tucker Park, director Tom Teigen said. One possibility is using banners. They are looking into either doing it in-house or finding a company that can donate its services.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465 or nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
