Three Students Win National Art Contest Include Pierre Elementary School Student

PIERRE, (KCCR) — Three South Dakota students were honored recently for their work in helping to commemorate America’s 250th Birthday including an elementary school student from Pierre. Freedom 250 and the National Endowment for the Humanities honored regional, People’s Choice and National Winner during a special ceremony in Washington for the Heroes Student Art Contest. Roselle Grabitske of Pierre won in the elementary division for her artwork celebrating Louis Armstrong, his trumpet and his overall contributions to American Jazz. Jessa Van Zee of Platte won in the middle school division and Daniel Grabitske of Watertown won in the high school division. Judges for the contest selected one student from each division in each state. The works were judged based on originality and an artist’s statement. Over one-thousand students submitted works that were evaluated through rounds of judging by artists, educators, historians, Freedom 250 and the National Endowment for the Humanities.