The 2016 Sustainability Children’s Artwork Competition has come to a close and three winning submissions have been selected from a total of 25 entries.
Yavara Loungo, daughter of Michael Loungo (Development) won the Pre-K to Grade 2 category, with 472 votes, or 29% of the votes for her category. Zoe Weaver, daughter of Stevi Weaver (Student Activities) won the Grades 3-5 category with 409 votes or 34% of her category. Finally, Sydney Little, daughter of Missy Little (Budget and Planning) won the Grades 6-8 category with 210 votes or 74% of her category.
Winners were chosen by the public through a poll on the Office of Sustainability’s website, green.nd.edu. In total almost 3,200 votes were cast throughout the three week voting period by over 2,900 people.
The youngest category proved to be the most popular with 15 entries and 1681 total votes, followed by the third to fifth grade category with 6 entries and 1227 votes. The sixth to eighth grade category rounded out the competition with four entries and 283 total votes.
Entries were submitted by a variety of family members including parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and spread across a wide variety of mediums. From finger painting to sidewalk chalk to collages, there was no shortage of creativity.
As part of the contest families were encouraged to talk about sustainability and set family sustainability goals. Assistance in this endeavor was provided by a family discussion guide in the contest packet.
Though the goals differed per family, themes of taking shorter showers, turning off lights, and reusing or recycling items instead of throwing them out were common threads.
While the winners went home with prizes from the Potawatomi Zoo, the South Bend Cubs, and the South Bend Department of Parks and Recreation, all participants received a packet of seeds to plant and their artwork will be shown at the Kroc Center in downtown South Bend from May 13 until July 9.