University of Wisconsin - Extension

MADISON, Wis.—The Wisconsin Lakes Partnership has announced winners of the 2005 Wisconsin River of Words contest. The winners hail from K-12 classes in Land O’Lakes, Kenosha, Clear Lake and Grantsburg.

Wisconsin River of Words (ROW) is part of an international K-12 environmental art and poetry program created to promote watershed awareness, literacy and the arts. Through an annual art and poetry contest and educator’s tools, Wisconsin ROW helps communities begin exploring the natural and cultural history of their own home grounds.

ROW is coordinated in Wisconsin by the Wisconsin Lakes Partnership, which includes the University of Wisconsin-Extension Lakes Program, and is co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Center for the Book. A series of workshops each fall provides educators with resources on watershed activities, outdoor activities and poetry/art activities.

All entries to the ROW contest are sent to the national competition in California. Once they are judged at the national level, the Wisconsin entries are judged on a statewide basis. Dale Cox served as the poetry judge and the UW-Extension Lakes Program staff judged the art entries. Awards are $50 for first place and $25 for second place in each category. The award money is provided by the Wisconsin Center for the Book. The contest winners also receive a certificate.

The 2005 Wisconsin River of Words contest winners include:

Poetry

Grades 3-6

1st Place - Ronnie Nelson, age 9, Gaylord Nelson Educational Center, Clear Lake. Teacher: Mary Schieffer

2nd Place – Brittney Hoglund, age 10, Gaylord Nelson Educational Center, Clear Lake. Teacher: Mary Schieffer

Grades 7-9

1st Place - Katerina Konstantinoff, age 13, Armitage Academy, Kenosha. Teacher: Genée Major. “Ghostly Waters”

2nd Place – Fiona Lochtfeld, age 13, Armitage Academy, Kenosha. Teacher: Genée Major

Grades 10-12

1st Place – Tess Clancy, age 16, Conserve School, Land O’ Lakes. Teacher: Stefan Anderson

No 2nd Place awarded

Art

Grades 10-12

1st Place - Kerissa Nelson, age 17, Grantsburg High School. Teacher: Matt Berg

2nd Place – Kristina Westberg, Age 17, Grantsburg High School. Teacher: Matt Berg

"We all live in a watershed,” says Mary Pardee, UW-Stevens Point/Extension lakes education specialist. “With ROW, kids learn about their home watershed, then express themselves through art and poetry."

A watershed is an area of land through which water flows, both aboveground and underground, on its way to a stream, river, lake or ocean. Every time it rains, water flows off the land and into the closest stream or other waterway. On its way, it picks up sediment, trash, oil, fertilizer and debris and carries it along, eventually depositing everything into the nearest body of water. The entire area of land that drains into the same body of water makes up a watershed. Any landscape, rural or urban, is made up of many interconnected watersheds. To find your watershed, visit the EPA web site at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/state.cfm?statepostal=WI .

Visit the Wisconsin River of Words web site at http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/uwexlakes/row or the Wisconsin Lakes Partnership web site at www.uwsp.edu/cnr/uwexlakes. For more information, contact Mary Pardee via email at mpardee@uwsp.edu or call 715-346-4978.

To learn more about the national ROW program, visit the web site at http://www.riverofwords.org. To learn about the Wisconsin Center for the Book, visit http://www.wisconsinacademy.org/book/