Gov. Mifflin 8th grader wins Grand Prize in Spotted Lanternfly calendar contest

Exeter and Tulpe students among winning entries in Pa Department of Ag’s contest

Governor Mifflin Middle School eighth-grader Bella Santos has been selected as the Grand Prize winner of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Spotted Lanternfly calendar contest on Jan. 8.

Selected from more than 700 entries, the drawing by Santos of the Spotted Lanternfly titled “Lousy Lanternflies” will be featured on the cover and inside the calendar.

Other local winning entries include 1st place winner in grades 5 to 6 Elijah Barsoum, a fifth grader at Reiffton School, Reading in Exeter Township School District, and 2nd place winner in grades 3 to 4 Gabrielle Kraatz, a fourth grader at Penn Bernville Elementary, Bernville, in Tulpehocken Area School District.

“These calendars are a creative way to remind ourselves of the year-round need for vigilance in fighting the Spotted Lanternfly. Students across the state took the time to use their talents to bring awareness to the threat the Spotted Lanternfly poses,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “The winners represent a phenomenal cross-section of the entries received. We thank all of the students who entered, and for their teachers for encouraging them to use their creativity for good.”

Other winners include Miriam Buchanan, grade 2, Alloway Creek Elementary, Littlestown (Adams) 1st in grades 1-2; Hudson McKain, grade 3, Moore Elementary, Bath (Northampton) 1st in grades 3-4; Austin Carson, grade 1, Lampeter Elementary, Lancaster (Lancaster) 2nd in grades 1-2; Nicole Cassell, grade 6, Ephrata Mennonite, Ephrata (Lancaster) – 2nd in grades 5-6; Direla Dedic, grade 8, Wilson Middle, Carlisle (Cumberland) – 2nd in grades 7-8; Layna Brothers, grade 2, Home Schooled – 3rd in grades 1-2; Abigail Fickley grade 4, Moore Elementary, Bath (Northampton) – 3rd in grades 3-4; Audrey Wieand, grade 5, Lampeter Elementary, Lancaster (Lancaster) – 3rd in grades 5-6; and Alina Hernandez, grade 7, Upper Merion Middle, King of Prussia (Montgomery) – 3rd in grades 7-8.

The contest was open to students in grades 1 through 8, and entries were evaluated on creativity and effectively communicating the ways Pennsylvanians can identify and help eliminate Spotted Lanternfly. The finalists will appear in the 2019 calendar, produced by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, and made available for free at the 103rd Pennsylvania Farm Show.

Find out more about Spotted Lanternfly at www.agriculture.pa.gov/spottedlanternfly, https://extension.psu. edu/spotted-lanternfly,www. aphis.usda.gov/hungrypest/ slf.