Educational Contests: Fernleaf Community Charter School Press Release

Fletcher, N.C. --- FernLeaf Community Charter School’s fifth and sixth grade students submitted 39 posters and several essays to Henderson County’s Soil & Water Conservation District’s annual contest. This year’s theme was Wetlands are Wonderful. FernLeaf is extremely proud to have the first, second, and third place winners of the sixth grade poster contest for Henderson County: Congratulations Phoenix Work (1st), Liam Miller (2nd), and Izzy Service (3rd). Fifth grader Myles Keefauver was the school winner for the fifth grade poster competition, and Garrett Criscione came in second for the county for his essay.

After students competed locally through the county competitions, the first place county winners advanced to the Soil and Water Area 1 competition. Top winners from all eight Soil and Water areas compete at the state level for cash prizes. Phoenix Work’s Wetlands poster won first place for the area at the end of February, and he will go on to compete at state.

FernLeaf’s fifth and sixth grade science teachers, Jenn Ryan and Christine Andrews, have a special talent for planning interdisciplinary project-based learning opportunities for their young scientists. By combining this artistic approach with their biology lessons on how the wetlands impact our environment, they provided these fifth and sixth graders the opportunity to use their creativity in a hands-on approach to the subject. Participating in the NC Soil and Water Conservation contest connected these students with the community and challenged them to think critically about their part in conserving the environment and contributing to society as a whole.

The top poster art will be made into bookmarks for outreach programs through Henderson County Soil and Water. The poster and essay contest is sponsored on the local level by soil and water conservation districts and their association and organized at the state level by the N.C. Division of Soil and Water Conservation.

For information on local speech, essay and poster contests; an environmental science competition called the Envirothon; educational field days and free in-school lessons, please call the Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District at (828) 697-4949.

FernLeaf is a small, compassionate, tuition-free public school serving Henderson County, dedicated to providing students with engaging, hands on, experiential learning opportunities. FernLeaf is now enrolling kindergarten through seventh grade until March 31, 2020. The public charter school adds an additional grade every year and will grow through 12th grade. Visit fernleafccs.org and click on enrollment to find out more information, or call the office at (828) 684-3645.

FernLeaf's mission is to foster a rich learning environment that embodies the essence of community, understanding, and the human spirit. Grounded in humble respect for our surroundings, the individual, and the world as a whole, we seek to engage the unique passions and aptitudes of our school community so that in addition to achieving academic fluency, students become thoughtful, compassionate, and engaged.