A Sedalia Middle School fifth grader was honored Jan. 25 at the Pettis County Courthouse for artwork entered in the 2016-17 Pettis County Illegal Dumping Awareness project.
Isabella Stringham, the daughter of Bryan and Christmas Stringham, of Sedalia, was honored with a plaque by Pettis County Western Commissioner Jim Marcum and Randy White, executive director of Pioneer Trails Regional Planning Commission.
The contest is hosted by West Central Missouri Solid Waste Management District (Region F), Pioneer Trails RPC and the Pettis County Commission. Stringham’s art was used as the cover for the 2017 Illegal Dumping Poster Contest Calendar distributed to all Pettis County fifth grade classes.
Information provided by Pioneer Trails RPC in Concordia stated, “The illegal dumping awareness project promotes to students, educators, parents, and the public in general, the knowledge that will help to successfully reduce, and eventually stop illegal dumping.”
Illegal dumping can be defined as disposing of waste in an improper or illegal manner, where it doesn’t belong such as discarding waste in open urban or rural areas and/or where environmental damage is likely to occur.
Recently Region F Planner Ruth Anne Parrott visited fifth grade classrooms in Pettis County and gave a 20-minute presentation about illegal dumping. After her presentation students drew posters that could be included in the contest.
The contest was open to all fifth graders in Pettis County and Stringham’s winning work was selected from 13 posters judged by the Region F Solid Waste Management Board.
Emily Craig, solid waste/community economic development planner with Pioneer Trails RPC said Stringham’s art was chosen because of “her colorful attention to detail and effective method of conveying the Illegal Dumping mission.”
Her poster will also grace two billboards in the Sedalia area this year, both on U.S. Highway 65, south of West 32nd Street. One will be a digital version and one traditional.
On Friday, soft-spoken Stringham told the Democrat while at the SMS why she participated in the project.
“We were doing it for illegal dumping awareness,” she said. “Because it’s illegal and it needs to stop, so the earth doesn’t get trashy. So, if we wanted too, we drew posters.”
Stringham’s winning entry depicts a trash can decorated with green hills, a sun peeking over the horizon. To the right is a person throwing trash into the can. To the left Stringham wrote “Take care of our Earth.”
She added that she created the poster in SMS Art Teacher Kelly Hagen’s class. Hearing that she had won the contest made Stringham extremely “happy.”
“(My mom and dad) said they were really proud of me,” she said. “I think it was really, really fun to be able to draw and do something fun. I’m really excited about that.”
Stringham is creative and said she enjoys art, reading and music and she that often sings with her mother.
SMS Art Teacher Hagen said she had approximately 25 entries submitted from her art classes for the contest and noted Stringham’s attention to detail.
“She is just very meticulous (and) neat,” Hagen said. “Everything she does is very organized. Her craftsmanship is always neat and well thought out and she’s very focused all the time.”
