A 14-year old from Senator Eddie A. Lucio, Jr. Middle School, Vicente Santiago, won the Texas Best-in-Show award in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Contest, Michael Carlo, ranger at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge announced this week. Ribbons went to three first, second, and third place finishers and 16 honorable mention entries in age of four school grade groups.
Santiago’s art work, a colored pencil and air brush drawing of a male and female Hooded Merganser, will now compete with the Best-in-Show entries from each of the other 49 states in Washington, D.C.
The Junior Duck design contest is part of a nationwide curriculum developed for schools by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to teach environmental science and habitat conservation.
Carlo coordinated the reception of the entries and the judging and awarding of certificates and ribbons this month. Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge was the receiving refuge for all the entries from the state of Texas for this annual event. Close to 600 entries were received at Santa Ana and judged March 26 at the Palm View Community Center, McAllen.
Santiago received $1,000 for his winning entry. The presentation was made at a public assembly at the Senator Eddie A. Lucio, Jr. school recently. Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, the non-profit organization that assists Santa Ana and Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuges, Quail Unlimited, and the Alamo Bank of Texas were the primary sponsors of this year’s contest in Texas.
Tein Tein Yau, a 15-year old student from James Bowie High School in Austin, was first runner-up to the Best-in-Show with his pencil drawing of a Northern Pintail. He received a check for $500.
Thomas Chavez, also a student at Senator Eddie A. Lucio, Jr. Middle School in Brownsville, was second runner-up and received a $250 award for his entry. He entered a colored pencil/air brush drawing of a male wood duck.
Every student who entered the contest received a Certificate of Appreciation for participation in the conservation and design program.
Jeff Howland, refuge manager for Santa Ana, congratulated all the students who entered the contest, noting that competition was particularly keen this year because of the high caliber of talent in all the entries. He said that judges Ruth Hoyt, Larry Ditto, Sean Smith, Richard Moore and himself had a difficult time coming to their decisions, since so many entries were excellent. Ranger Mike Carlo coordinated the Texas entries.
Each of the first place winners in Texas will now become part of an exhibit which tours Texas and can be seen in museums, refuges, and libraries.
The Federal Junior Duck Stamp program is designed to fit in with existing art and science curricula in Texas schools and incorporate scientific and wildlife management principles, crossing ethnic, social, cultural and geographic barriers to teach a greater awareness of our nation’s natural resources. The program concentrates on waterfowl and wetlands to give students an opportunity to experience the beauty and diversity of wildlife while discovering the interdependence found in nature. The program was instituted in 1994 in connection with the Federal Duck Stamp Program.
