SDSU's Strengthening the Heartland announces art contest winners

Strengthening the Heartland, a collaborative project from South Dakota State University Extension and North Dakota State University Extension, recently announced the winners of its second annual "Healthy Decision-Making" Art Contest.

"In the second year of the contest, we were blown away by the entries that were submitted," said Amber Letcher, project director and professor in SDSU's School of Education, Counseling and Human Development. "Students took an abstract prompt and created pieces of work that illustrate their commitment to building better communities in the Midwest."

Students were asked to create pieces of work that illustrate what building stronger communities meant to them. The selected winners were awarded a financial prize toward science, technology, engineering, art or math school supplies. The South Dakota winners, from dozens of entries, were as follows:

South Dakota grand prize winner ($1,000 worth of STEAM supplies): Hayden Bowers – St. Mary Catholic School

South Dakota second-place winner ($500 worth of STEAM supplies): Jamaica Mich M. Madrona – Lower Brule Schools

South Dakota third-place winner ($250 worth of STEAM supplies): Taryn Kraft – Britton-Hecla School District

Submissions were judged based on criteria craftsmanship, originality and interpretation of the topic.

"We are grateful for their submissions and for their teachers/advisers who encouraged them to submit on behalf of their schools," Letcher added.

Strengthening the Heartland

This year’s contest was funded by the Rural Health and Safety Education program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.