BY VINCE ECHAVARIA
Staff Writer
HOLMDEL — Three district students placed first in a local poster and bumper sticker contest related to the environment.
The Freehold Soil Conservation District has selected the winners of the 2004 Conservation Poster and Bumper Sticker contests, titled "The Living Soil." The annual event has been held for about 15 years, said Karen Rowe, education coordinator for the conservation.
Brothers Allen and Kevin Lin, and Grace Liu, all won the conservation district’s poster contest out of more than 80 entries. Allen Lin and Liu also won the bumper sticker contest, and are repeat winners in both events.
Each winner received a $100 savings bond, and the first-place local entries were sent to the New Jersey Association of Conservation Districts for the state competition. The winners for the state contest should be announced in about two weeks, Rowe said.
"The students had to show that they learned something about the essential need for soil," Rowe said.
Contestants had to explore why soil is important to people’s welfare and why soil is "living," according to the contest’s entry application.
The contest is separated into two categories for the poster and bumper sticker, and divided into four divisions of grades two and three, four through six, seven through nine, and 10 through 12.
Allen Lin, a freshman at Holmdel High School, won both contests for grades seven through nine. His brother Kevin, a fifth grader at Indian Hill Elementary, was the winner in grades four through six for the poster contest. Liu, a junior at the high school, also won both contests.
Allen Lin and Liu were also victorious in the state poster competition last year.
"I was surprised that Grace won the bumper sticker contest because she did it in about 20 minutes and turned it in right before the deadline," said Li Ping Kung, Liu’s mother. "She picked the contest because she pays attention to the environment and has concern about pollution."
The Living Soil contest is based on the National Association of Conservation Districts’ annual Soil and Water Stewardship Week theme.
The contest is open to all students in the state, including community youth groups, home-schooled students and all public, private and parochial schools. Freehold conservation’s contest is between students from Monmouth and Middlesex counties, Rowe said.
Students were scored on relevance to theme, conservation message, visual effectiveness and originality, Rowe said.
The deadline for the contest was April 14 and selections were made by the end of April, she said.
"Holmdel typically has a lot of participants," Rowe said. "The Holmdel entries were unique, colorful and eye-catching."