Grade one nature artists win calendar contest

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Four Grade 1 students from Kipohtakaw Education Centre have won first and second place prizes from the John Janzen Nature Centre for their plant and wild animal artwork.

Six- and seven-year-old students were asked to draw birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, flowers and shrubs that are Native to Edmonton. It was a calendar contest with artwork requested from schools in Alberta from grades one to 12.

Dolores Euler, the Grade 1 teacher at Kipohtakaw, said the children were delighted to receive the news.

"I knew I was going to win," said seven-year-old Jenifer Bairnes. "I just had a feeling."

Bairnes drew a picture of hummingbirds, which won her first place along with Liam Auigbelle, who chose to draw a picture of robins.

Bairnes and Auigbelle will have their artwork featured as large images in the John Janzen Nature Centre's 2006 calendar of wildlife (including front cover and inside cover). Their art will also be on display at the John Janzen Centre for a year, after which it will be returned to them framed by the centre.

Tommy Bruno, along with Erika Courterille-Arcand, both won second place with drawings of the dewberry flower and a ground beetle. Their artwork will be on smaller images in the calendar.

The public can visit the John Janzen Centre on Sunday, Oct. 16 from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. to view both the first and second place winners' artwork.

The John Janzen Nature Centre was established in 1976 to serve as a focus for natural history events and programs.

The centre is nestled in the heart of the river valley with exhibits and information to encourage awareness and understanding of nature in an urban setting.

The four winners were acknowledged at a school assembly in June where they stood and received applause.

"There has been lots of positive reinforcement for them from the staff and from grades above them," said Euler.

The centre personally contacted the parents of each winner and congratulated them. Each of the four winners will receive a 2006 calendar at an art exhibition and calendar launch on Oct. 16 at the centre.

Euler said a lot of the art lessons were spent preparing for this contest. Euler had the students do preliminary drawings on paper. They then drew their good copy and she had them outline it with a fine permanent marker in black, after which they chose to use markers, paints, pencil crayons and crayons.

"I was amazed by all of the artwork from the students," said Euler.

Euler has displayed the children's artwork on one of the bulletin boards at the school and since then she has received a lot of comments from teachers and students.

"The teachers have come to me and asked, 'How did your Grade 1 students do such a terrific job' and I tell them that the students seem to have natural artistic tendencies."

"I will probably be doing it again next year with my students; it sort of gives me the opportunity to teach certain art forms," she said.