Portland, OR. Winners of the 2019 Be Kind to Animals Poster and Story Contest were celebrated at the “A’Cat’Emy Awards” on January 27th at the Oregon Humane Society. This is the 70th year for the contest that honors young people who use their creative talents to promote kindness and compassion toward animals. During the awards ceremony, students displayed their artwork and read their essays to the audience of parents, teachers and volunteers. The contest drew close to 2,000 entries this year from schools throughout Oregon and SW Washington. Landon Singh, pictured above, from Faith Bible Christian School in Hillsboro won the Grand Prize in the story category for his touching essay about how his pets are part of the family. “Family is always there, every day, no matter what. Family is a bond that can’t be broken. I always think that I am giving them a good life, but it’s actually them giving me a GREAT life.”
Alaina Tarr from Pacific Crest Middle School in Bend, OR took the Grand Prize in the poster category.
Alaina Tarr’s winning poster illustrates the many ways to help animals in need.
Sarah Uenaka from Sun Century Art Academy won 1st place in the 1-2nd grade category
Kovilte Kupciunaite from Sun Century Art Academy won 1st place in the 3-4th grade category.
Linda Dong from Jiao Ying Chinese Culture & Art School won 1st place in the 7-8th grade category.
“The OHS Education team is so grateful to all of the teachers who asked their students to reflect on what it means to treat animals with kindness and compassionate, and then turn those reflections into beautiful works of both visual and written art,” says Rachel Gene, OHS Humane Education Manager. “With all that teachers have on their plates, it means a great deal to us that they made humane education part of their classroom curriculums and helped to support the Oregon Humane Society’s mission to foster kinder, more compassionate communities.”
Full winner list:
| 2019 Poster Winners | ||||
| Student Name | Place | Grade | School | City |
| Grades 1-2 | ||||
| Sarah Uenaka | 1st place | 2 | Sun Century Art Academy | Portland, OR |
| Emily Lu Xia | 2nd place | 2 | Jacob Wismer Elementary | Portland, OR |
| Izzy Wolford | 3rd place | 2 | W.E. Miller Elementary | Bend, OR |
| Luke Xie | Honorable Mention | 2 | Findley Elementary School | Portland, OR |
| Grades 3-4 | ||||
| Kovilte Kupciunaite | 1st place | 4 | Sun Century Art Academy | Portland, OR |
| Katie Ly | 2nd place | 4 | Indian Hills Elementary | Beaverton, OR |
| Halie Ly | 3rd place | 4 | Indian Hills Elementary | Beaverton, OR |
| Sarah Lei | Honorable Mention | 3 | Jiao Ying Chinese Culture & Art School | Portland, OR |
| Petra Sorensen | Honorable Mention | 3 | Sun Century Art Academy | Portland, OR |
| Grades 5-6 | ||||
| Alaina Tarr | 1st place / Grand Prize | 6 | Pacific Crest Middle School | Bend, OR |
| Avery Horne | 2nd place | 6 | Springville K-8 | Portland, OR |
| Naomi Lucescu | 3rd place | 6 | Hockinson Middle School | Brush Prairie, WA |
| Kyla Hurt | Honorable Mention | 5 | Adams Elementary | Eugene, OR |
| Grades 7-8 | ||||
| Linda Dong | 1st place | 8 | Jiao Ying Chinese Culture & Art School | Portland, OR |
| Jaytee Franko | 2nd place | 7 | Stoller Middle School | Portland, OR |
| Matthew Lei | 3rd place | 8 | Jiao Ying Chinese Culture & Art School | Portland, OR |
| Julia Chen | Honorable Mention | 8 | Sun Century Art Academy | Portland, OR |
| Fiona Wang | Honorable Mention | 7 | Sun Century Art Academy | Portland, OR |
| Grades 9-12 | ||||
| Audrey Zhao | 1st place | 9 | Sun Century Art Academy | Portland, OR |
| Chloe Elmore | 2nd place | 11 | Sprague High School | Salem, OR |
| Angelica Vityukov | 3rd place | 11 | Sprague High School | Salem, OR |
| Samantha Breen | Honorable Mention | 11 | Sprague High School | Salem, OR |
| 2019 Story Winners | ||||
| Grades 1-2 | ||||
| Gwyn DeMars | 1st place | 2 | W.E. Miller Elementary | Bend, OR |
| Cami Munk | 2nd place | 2 | Nyssa Elementary | Nyssa, OR |
| Quinn Swartz | 3rd place | 2 | West Union Elementary | Hillsboro, OR |
| Natalie Beekman | Honorable Mention | 2 | W.E. Miller Elementary | Bend, OR |
| Grades 3-4 | ||||
| Landon Singh | 1st place / Grand Prize | 3 | Faith Bible Christian School | Hillsboro, OR |
| An Kiniry | 2nd place | 4 | Odyssey Program | Portland, OR |
| Petra Sorensen | 3rd place | 3 | Bridgeport Elementary | Tualatin, OR |
| Wesley Hardin | Honorable Mention | 3 | Faith Bible Christian School | Hillsboro, OR |
| Grades 5-6 | ||||
| Eleena Ford | 1st place | 5 | Woodstock Elementary | Portland, OR |
| Berit Ballew | 2nd place | 6 | Lake Oswego Jr. High School | Lake Oswego, OR |
| Arianna Rector | 3rd place | 6 | Lake Oswego Jr. High School | Lake Oswego, OR |
| Izze Bowman | Honorable Mention | 5 | Tucker Maxon School | Portland, OR |
| Grades 7-8 | ||||
| Jaytee Franko | 1st place | 7 | Stoller Middle School | Portland, OR |
| Molly O’Toole | 2nd place | 8 | Lake Oswego Jr. High School | Lake Oswego, OR |
| Victoria Yan | 3rd place | 7 | Lake Oswego Jr. High School | Lake Oswego, OR |
| Simone Baumgartner | Honorable Mention | 8 | Lake Oswego Jr. High School | Lake Oswego, OR |
From Oregon Humane Society:
The Oregon Humane Society is the Northwest’s oldest and largest humane society, with one of the highest adoption rates in the nation. OHS receives no government funds for its adoption, education, medical and behavior programs. Visit oregonhumane.org for more information.
