In its third year, the NCFA Forest Products Week Essay Contest hit a new record! From Murphy to Manteo, we received over 600 essays from 132 schools. Given submission requirements, teachers only submitted the top 5 essays from each class. We conservatively estimate that over 3,500 students were engaged in forestry topics this contest year. Thank you to all who participated, and to the teachers and parents that supported these students. A panel of forestry professionals from the N.C. Forest Service and the Association served as readers to help select the winning essays. Thank you to Christie Adams, Amanda Hubbard, and Bill Pickens from the N.C. Forest Service, and Amy Juliana, NCFA Education Programs Manager for serving on the judging panel this year! Choosing one winner was quite difficult with so many great submissions. On behalf of our sponsors; Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the N.C. Forest Service we are excited to announce the following winners:
Elementary School: Matthew Beckford from Overhills Elementary in Spring Lake, NC
Middle School: Katelyn Davis from Forest Hills Middle School in Wilson, NC
High School: Timothy McLendon from Mooresville High School in Mooresville, NC
Congratulations to our winners! You can read their essays by clicking on their name. We will be visiting the student winners to personally congratulate them this month.
This year we had so many great submissions we also want to give a few honorable mentions from each grade level. These students made it to the top 5!