WILLOW WOOD - The Lawrence Soil and Water Conservation District has released the names of students who placed in its annual coloring, poster and essay contests.

The

essay contest is for high school students, the poster contest for fourth- and fifth-graders and the coloring contest for first- and second-graders.

The topic for the essay contest was "Soil biology, the living component of soil - How does it contribute to the agricultural productivity and air and water quality?" In the essay contest, Nick Whitley of Fairland High School placed first and Nick Davidson of Rock Hill High School placed second.

The theme for the poster contest was "The Living Soil." In the fourth-grade poster contest,

Steven Chandler of Burlington Elementary placed first, Bianca Bartram of Symmes Valley Elementary placed second and Jessica Bryant of Symmes Valley Elementary placed third. In the fifth-grade poster contest, Samantha Hall of Symmes Valley Elementary placed first, Beth Russell of Symmes Valley Elementary placed second and Cody Mann of Chesapeake Elementary placed third.

The theme for the coloring contest was "We Grow in Ohio." In the first-grade coloring contest, Chelsea Blankenship of Fairland East Elementary placed first, John Pacinhik of Fairland East Elementary placed second and Dakota McGraw of Rock Hill Elementary placed third. In the second-grade coloring contest, Savannah Nelson of Fairland East Elementary placed first, Alexis Cooper of South Point Elementary placed second and Jordan Taylor of Chesapeake Elementary placed third.

First-place winners in the coloring and poster contests received $25, second-place winners got $15 and third-place winners $10. Whitley was awarded $100 for his top essay while Davidson earned $50. A total of 836 students entered the coloring contest, 383 students entered the poster contest and 56 students submitted essays.