Carbon County students were asked to "dig deeper" for the 39th annual Carbon County Conservation District Poster Contest, and dig deeper they did.

On Wednesday evening, in the county courthouse courtroom 1, parents, students, teachers and conservation district officials gathered to honor the 21 students whose work was chosen as the best of the best. A total of 160 entries were judged in this year's contest. The theme was "Dig deeper: Mysteries of the soil."Carbon County Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, chairman, welcomed everyone to the annual event. He introduced conservation district board members in attendance and congratulated the students for their efforts.Audrey Wargo, conservation district secretary, then addressed the audience.She said that first-place winners will move on to the state round of competition. In recent years, five area posters have also gone on to win at states. These posters are then sent to the national competition.Wargo also thanked parents and teachers for the support of the students and for encouraging them to participate in the contest.She addressed the students and told them to keep pushing until you achieve your dreams.A past winner, Gail Christopher-Lazar, who is now a Panther Valley art teacher, spoke to the students.Christopher-Lazar won the poster contest during her high school years, and she said that win helped her realize that her destiny was to become an art teacher."Parents, always, always support your children's dreams," she said, "and children, don't be afraid to follow your dream and your passion. If you choose to follow your heart when choosing your vocation, you will never work a day in your life."Wargo then announced this year's winners in each category.• Kindergarten and first grade: Andrew Dotzel of Weatherly Elementary, first; Brielle Safin of Weatherly Elementary, second; and Abigail Weston of Weatherly Elementary, third.• Grades two and three: Brynn Wentz of Franklin Elementary, first; Jack Nemshick of Weatherly Elementary, second; Adrianna Dotzel of Weatherly Elementary, third; and Patience Kresge of Panther Valley Elementary, honorable mention.• Grades four through six: Jayden Gable of Lehighton Middle School, first; Shannon Dougherty of St. John Neumann Regional, second; Luke Derr of Weatherly Elementary, third; and Katherine Aaron of SS. Peter and Paul School and Megan Dubble of Lehighton Middle School, honorable mention.• Grades seven through nine: Madison Martinez of St. John Neumann Regional, first; Hannah Sarmir of St. John Neumann Regional, second; Kayla Summa of Weatherly Middle School, third; and Nathan Cunfer of St. John Neumann Regional, honorable mention.• Grades 10 through 12: Jennifer Stank of Weatherly High School, first; Emily Plitnik of Weatherly High School, second; Summer Peck of Weatherly High School, third; and Sabrina Cary and Dari Dice, both of Weatherly High School, honorable mention.Winners each received a certificate, ribbon and small monetary prize.Susan Gallagher, chief naturalist at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center in Summit Hill, closed the event by thanking the students for participating and thanking parents for getting their children interested in this.She noted that there are so many benefits to art and spending time outside.