Home, sweet home
Photos by LISA JAMES/Press Wyatt Jensen, 11, first-place winner for the middle school category of the Student Essay Contest on Kootenai County History gets a congratulatory hug from his grandmother, Robin Jensen, after the awards were announced Tuesday. Wyatt is a sixth-grader who is home-schooled.
St. Dominic’s students Hannah Pettibone, left, and Claire Darakjy accept their first place award from County Commissioner Chris Fillios, left, and Kootenai County Historical Preservation Chair Robert Singletary, for their joint report on the Samuel Ann Young House in the high school category of the Student Essay Contest on Kootenai County History during the awards ceremony on Tuesday.
LISA JAMES/Press Students wait for Kootenai County Historical Preservation Vice President Skip Fuller to announce the winners of the third annual Student Essay Contest on Kootenai County History at the Kootenai County Administration building on Tuesday evening.
LISA JAMES/Press The first place winners of the Student Essay Contest on Kootenai County History, Wyatt Jensen, center, middle school winner, and high school winners Claire Darakjy, left, and Hannah Pettibone, disperse to join their families after the award ceremony on Tuesday evening.
By DEVIN HEILMAN
Staff Writer
COEUR d’ALENE — In Wyatt Jensen's imagination, Bayview history is much more interesting when it's told from the perspectives of "Paul the Fabulous Kamloops Trout" and Old Cape Horn itself.
"I'm just not really good with writing factual stories," Wyatt said. "I like fictional stories better."
Judges enjoyed Wyatt's imaginative fictional flair, as well. His essay about the Joseph Spear House and Bayview's lime industry, as told by "Paul" and Cape Horn, earned him first place in the middle school division for the Kootenai County Historic Preservation Commission's third-annual Student Essay Contest on Kootenai County History.
"I learned a lot about Bayview," Wyatt said.
The sixth-grade home-schooler was among 22 students who received honors Tuesday evening during a ceremony in the Kootenai County Administration Building. This year's topic was "Kootenai County's Historic Homes." Contestants had their choice of 20 historic locations to write about.
The top essay in the high school division was a team effort. Best friends Claire Darakjy, 17, and Hannah Pettibone, 16, from St. Dominic's Girls School drafted a detailed and informative essay about the Samuel and Ann Young House in Post Falls.
"I couldn't believe it, I was just like, 'Woah!'" Hannah said when she found out she and Claire earned first place.
"I felt bad for my brother," Claire said with a grin — her brother had earned an honorable mention for his essay.
The top essay winners walked away with $200 cash (split in Claire and Hannah's case), memberships to the Museum of North Idaho, skate session and party passes to Frontier Ice Arena and honorary memberships for the HPC.
The essays were separated into their grade divisions and judged in two separate sessions where identifiers were removed. The HPC received 43 middle school entries and 13 high school entries for a total of 56. Eight of the nine middle school winners are from St. Dominic's and Immaculate Conception Academy.
Only one entry was received from a public middle school; no public high school students participated this year.
"We work with so many groups in the community, but not necessarily families or youth, so this is an opportunity to do that and engage them in something that’s very important," said Nancy Jones, the administration supervisor for the Kootenai Board of County Commissioners. "It’s really important to them to engage with our community at a variety of levels, and certainly that should include our youth. The BOCC has been very supportive of historic preservation and this contest.”