“Small Splashes” by Whitko 10th-grader Emma Morse took first place in the ninth- and 10th-grade division in the Kosciusko County Lakes and Streams 16th annual Student Art Contest. Images provided by the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams.

News Release

SOUTH WHITLEY — The Whitko Junior Senior High School art department recently competed in the Kosciusko County Lakes and Streams 16th annual Student Art Contest.

Each year, the Lilly Center art contest invites fourth- through 12th-grade students from across Kosciusko County to submit their creative depiction of local waterways. The program is designed to raise awareness and appreciation for Kosciusko County waters through artistic expression.

The theme for this year’s contest was “Memories of the Lake.”

Artists with winning entries receive cash prizes and have their artwork on display in The Alley, located in downtown Warsaw. As a bonus, the artwork is also featured on greeting cards this year.

Artwork was evaluated by a panel of judges from the Grace College Art Department. Entries were judged based on their creativity, artistic merit, compatibility of any wildlife with its habitat and depiction of the theme.

Winners were selected in each of the following grade categories: fourth through sixth; seventh and eighth; ninth and 10th; and 11th and 12th. Prizes were awarded for first ($100), second ($75) and third ($50) places.

Whitko students received a total of five out of the possible six awards from their grade categories. Whitko High School art teacher Daniel Malicki said he is proud of all his students’ pursuit for excellence year after year in the contest. Malicki also said that “having success is hard to do but consistently doing it is even harder.”

The high school winners included:

Grades Nine And 10

• First — Emma Morse, 10th grade Whitko High School, “Small Splashes”
• Second — Alena Hindbaugh, 10th grade Whitko High School, “I Spy with My Little Eye”
• Third — Hannah Moore, 10th grade Whitko High School, “Memory From the Past”

Grades 11 And 12

• First — Monica Barboza, 11th grade, Warsaw Community High School, “Five More Minutes”
• Second — Madalyn Dafforn, 12th grade Whitko High School, “Bond at the Pond”
• Third — Cassidy Skinner, 11th grade Whitko, “Oh, To Be a Fish”
  

  Whitko 10th-grader Alena Hindbaugh won a second place with “I Spy with My Little Eye.”

  

  “Bond on the Pond” by Whitko 12th-grader Madalyn Dafforn captured a second place.

  

  Cassidy Skinner, an 11th-grader at Whitko, won a third place with “Oh, To Be a Fish.”