Valley students among top duck artists

MAT-SU - When it comes to artists painting ducks, nobody tops Mat-Su students.

Valley students captured 20 awards in the Alaska Federal Junior Duck Stamp contest, more than any other area.

Anchorage-area students had only six awards, while Fairbanks-area students accounted for 14. Surprisingly, Blatchely Middle School of Sitka accounted for six of the winners.

Leading the Valley award-winners were Karen Gross, Rachel Moore and Kiersten Wilber.

All three took first place in various categories Gross, of the Interior Distance Education Program, for her oil painting of common mergansers; Moore, of Goose Bay Elementary, for her colored pencil drawing of a green-winged teal duck; and Wilber, also of Goose Bay Elementary, for her colored pencil/watercolor rendition of a harlequin duck.

Taking second place from the Valley were Jason Deml, Tim OLeary, Angel Troy and Lauren Woods.

There were two third-place winners from the Valley.

Trista Fletchenhier and Liam House-Myers were both honored for their duck stamp art.

Earning honorable-mention status were Christine Busk, Cody Eastgate, Justin Foster, Thomas Gross, Maija Kellner-Rode, Kally Loyd, Colton Newman, Oleg Ogolenko, Jessica Peldo, Kayla Polston and Aerial Seltenreich.

Wasilla did a great job with 20 winners the most for any town, said Fred Deines of the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge.