WES student places highly in State and regional levels of national art contest

Post date: Jul 12, 2016 9:31:46 PM

Wells Elementary School student Madison Webb received first place locally and at state level competition in the second-grade category of the Smokey Bear & Woodsy Owl Poster Contest for 2016. And, in June, it was announced at a convention of the Garden Club Federation of Maine in Bar Harbor that Webb’s artwork also finished second at the New England regional level.

Shortly before school break for summer, Webb’s art teacher, Sandy Brennan, presented certificates to Webb at WES for her high achievements on behalf of the Seacoast Garden Club, sponsor of the contest locally.

Delta Fuller of Kennebunk is a member of that club. “Sandy has contributed many winners in this contest and we appreciate her enthusiasm,” commented Fuller of Brennan. “Her students do wonderful work and we always enjoy receiving their entries.” In 2014, one of Brennan’s art students, Logan Blanchard received first place in the State and regional portions of the Smokey Bear & Woodsy Owl Poster Contest

The Smokey Bear & Woodsy Owl Poster Contest began in 1961. It is open to all first through fifth-grade students. This contest is sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Forest Service and National Garden Clubs, Inc. The contest seeks to encourage children and adults to be involved with natural resource conservation and wildfire prevention.

Familiar to generations around the world, the shovel-carrying and folksy Smokey the Bear first appeared to the public in 1944. His 1947 message of “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” was updated in 2001 with the sentence ending in “Wildfires”. In 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, Woodsy Owl” appeared with the conservationist message of “Lend a Hand – Care for the Land.”

Madison Webb with her “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires” themed award winning poster