Hammond IN. 1-4-2011 – Entries from Chicago’s Douglas Taylor School and St. Francis de Sales High School placed first in their respective divisions in the poster contest for the 10th annual Winter Wonderland at Wolf Lake festival to be held Sat., Jan. 15.

Barton Fitzpatrick, a sophomore at St. Francis de Sales, took top honors among high school students and Ramon Andrade, a 4th grader at Taylor, placed first among elementary participants.

The festival, free to the public, is sponsored by the Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative (AWLI), a not-for-profit organization and land trust.

Others to receive prizes are second-place winners Joselyn Chavez, a 4th grader at Taylor, and Stephanie Galan, a freshman at St. Francis de Sales.

Placing third are Quiami Thomas, a 4th grader at Taylor, and freshman Kylee Corrasco at St. Francis de Sales.

Winners will receive awards of $25, $15 and $10, respectively.  Winning posters will be displayed at AWLI’s  information kiosk.

Receiving honorable mention were Evelyn Espinoza and Leslie Velasquez of Taylor and Vanessa Silva of Chicago’s John L. Marsh School.

Participating teachers were Nicole Corbiere of Marsh, Susan Zupan of Taylor, and Noel Morales of St. Francis de Sales.

Judges were Jen Lute of the Lake County Solid Waste Management District and Mary Kuzniar of Hammond’s Morton High School.

Free to the public, the festival showcases Wolf Lake and surrounding natural areas as a year-round resource for recreation and education.  Its purpose also is to promote bi-state cooperation.

AWLI also will conduct poster competitions later in 2011 at its Wetlands, Wind and Water festival on May 28-29 and at its Active Living Faire on October 1.