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Expo Poster, Poetry and Essay Competition
for Wyoming Schools
for Wyoming Schools
In conjunction with the Expo, WGFD conduct's a poster, poetry, and essay competition, which is a competition for all Wyoming students. The 2012 Expo theme is "Forever Wild...". All competition entries must integrate this theme into their product. The entries that comply with the competition criteria will be displayed in the Wildlife and Wild Scenes Gallery at Expo '12 in Casper, Wyoming, September 13th-15th, 2012. Savings bonds donated by Wyoming businesses will be awarded to the winners. The first, second, and third place winners in each category will receive a $200, $150, and $100 savings bond respectively. All winners will also receive an award ribbon, certificate, and complimentary one-year subscription to Wyoming Wildlife magazine. In addition, winners will also have the opportunity to be recognized at the Expo '12 Awards Banquet, held September 14, 2012 in Casper.
Select the corresponding category to find out more information about the contest, including contest rules,deadline information, entry procedures, and to download contest entry form:
Poster Competition - (Grades 3-6) Poetry Competition - (Grades 7-9) Essay Competition - (Grades 10-12)The theme for the 2012 Wyoming Hunting & Fishing Expo:
"Forever Wild..."
"Forever Wild..."
EXPO Poster Contest Winners 2012
First Place
Damian Lopez (6th Grade)
Rawlins, Wyoming
Rawlins Middle School - Marge McCreary, Teacher
Second Place
William Fish (6th Grade)
Lusk, Wyoming
Lusk Elementary School - Roxanne Fish, Teacher
Third Place
Baily Shumway (5th Grade)
Rock Springs, Wyoming
Lincoln Elementary School - Ms. Blaha/Mrs. Fitzgerald, Teachers
Honorable Mention
Cami Mathis (5th Grade)
Rock Springs, Wyoming
Lincoln Elementary School - Ms. Blaha/Mr. Oblock, Teachers
Honorable Mention
Makyela Sorensen (6th Grade)
Greybull, Wyoming
Greybull Middle School - Carol Kestner, Teacher
Honorable Mention
Briana Winstead (6th Grade)
Greybull, Wyoming
Greybull Middle School - Carol Kestner, Teacher
EXPO Poetry Contest Winners 2012
First Place
Forever Wild
Cheery yellow breast,
Enclosed in a speckled vest,
You’re forever wild.
Gold, brown, yellow hide,
Black horns on each front and side,
You’re forever wild.
Majestic white head,
Dark powerful wings outspread,
You’re forever wild.
Black tufts on each ear,
Striking, into rodents, fear,
You’re forever wild.
White cotton-y tail,
Light grey fur, like a new nail,
You’re forever wild.
Large jaw, claws galore,
Carnivore or herbivore,
You’re forever wild.
Antlers where birds peek,
Chocolaty brown, so unique,
You’re forever wild.
Gray-brown, there or here,
Bugle far, bugling near,
You’re forever wild.
Ashleigh Wigington
Casper, WY
CY Middle School
Teacher: Audrey Egan
Second Place
Forever Wild
I am forever wild
roaming free across wide openspaces
wildlife rises from my soilstomping victorious
freedom flapping in the wind
soaring over valiantmountains
whistling through forests ofpine
dancing atop the prairiegrass
I am wild
I am free
I am Wyoming
I am forever wild
I am Rebekah
dancing free from my prairiestage
twirling like the wind thoughgrass and trees
I am a child
whistling the unencumberedsong of the young
I am wild.
I am free.
I am Wyoming.
I am forever wild
side-by-side my mountainssalute the open sky
standing up for the wild
from the Tetons, to theAbsarokas
to the Big Horns and theGranite Range
every mountain tells a storyof our heritage
with wild inscription etchedacross a moonlit sky
just like Wyoming tells astory
I am wild.
I am free.
I am Wyoming.
I am forever wild
I am Rebekah
from the summit of HeartMountain I salute the open horizon
standing up for what I thinkis right
strong like the mountains
they urge me to be firm
to etch my own stories acrossthe Wyoming sky
I am wild.
I am free.
I am Wyoming.
I am forever wild
I am the elk, sheep, antelopeand deer
pounding up dust storms fromthe prairie to high rock crevices,
my silhouette posedmajestically along the skyline
battling for habitat,maintaining my freedom
embodying the wild in my gait
I am wild.
I am free.
I am Wyoming
I am forever wild
I am Rebekah
embodying the wild of myWyoming heritage
seven generations of Wyomingnatives dancing in my veins
hiking, fishing, hunting
this habitat nourishes mybody and my soul
I am wild.
I am free.
I am Wyoming.
I am forever wild
Fire Hole, Yellowstone,Shoshone, Platte and Snake
I am Wyoming’s rivers windingacross the land like a python
wildly rising and strikingwith the freedom of the clouds
predictable yet unpredictablebringing sustenance and refreshment
outlining our deserts ingreen
I flow unforced withoutholding back
Iam wild.
I am free.
I am Wyoming.
I am forever wild
I am Rebekah
I flow like the river
unforced and give withoutholding back
like a child
I am unpredictable and free
bringing sustenance andrefreshment
I am wild.
I am free.
I am Wyoming
I am forever wild
I am the grizzly
fierce, dark, big
and back from extinction
I will survive
I am wild.
I am free.
I am Wyoming
I am forever wild
I am Rebekah
determined, light, petite
I remind people to be bigeven though your small
I will survive
I am wild.
I am free.
I am Wyoming
I am Rebekah
I am Wyoming
I am Forever Wild
Rebekah Loberg
Cody, WY
Cody Middle School
Teacher: Pam Jackson
Third Place
Western Wild
Wyoming is freedom tome,
Wyoming is where I’llalways be.
For this land I’veknown as a child,
for this land will beForever Wild.
This land is pure andfree,
Wyoming is where Ilong to be.
The birds that fly O’so high,
live underneath thiswestern sky.
The breeze of theair, the smell of the rain,
these are the thingsthat keep me sane.
In rodeos we makethat 8 second ride,
we tip our hats we’refull of pride.
The deer around herehave no fear,
for hunting season isnot here.
The mountain lionshunt for prey
winter’s cold is hereto stay.
In the mountains Ineed to be,
Wyoming soil is hometo me.
City people justdon’t understand,
the true meaning ofthis majestic land.
The people here arecountry strong,
city folk just don’tbelong.
Wild horses and honeybees,
the summer’s bloomwill make you sneeze.
From Devils Tower toBaker’s Peak,
the grass is lush andthe lakes so sleek.
People wave becausethey know us all,
we come from Wyomingalways standing tall.
When you see thateagle fly,
you’ll never forgetthe endless sky.
Our country music isfrom Chris Ledoux,
his Copenhagen smilewill be forgotten by few.
From the gorgeousmountains that reach so high,
I live in Wyomingunder this beautiful sky.
Even though I’m onlya child,
I have always known this land is wild.
Chadd Gardner
Baggs, WY
Little Snake River Valley School
Teacher: Carolyn Hicks
EXPO Essay Contest Winners 2012
First Place
Wyoming and Me: Forever Wild
Leading two pack-horses up the trail along Bald Ridge, I take in the wild Wyoming Mountains, skyline then dip deeper into the Absaroka Wilderness. Glancing back, I feel the haunting presence of seven-plus generations who had ridden in awe beneath the same sunrise. Three hours later I appear from the edge of a grove of willows like a ghost gripping my Winchester. Looking at the dead elk, I feel a little lonely and think of my great grandfathers, my mountain brothers and the forever-wild bond we share. Wyoming’s outdoor heritage means more than pretty pictures and fresh air. It’s about a wildness that courses through our state and through the veins of those lucky enough to get mud on our boots stomping around it. We are forever united with the wild of Wyoming.
A 7th generation Wyoming native, that wild blood runs deep in me uniting me with my great-grandfather who died taking an elk on Carter Mountain, whose ashes speak from the Absaroka Range. They speak of the freedom of the wilderness and the rejuvenation that can only be found on a ridge beneath a lightning storm where they call me to the wild in the mountain and the wild in me. I am united with my grandfather when I pull into a rancher’s yard who long ago quit allowing hunters and I say, “I’m Ol’ Swede’s grandkid,” right before they let me on and I drive the same roads that Ol’ Swede made in his Model A 70 years ago. After bagging my goats, I dunk the skinned and cleaned carcasses in the same creek my ancestors did. This bond will keep me coming back to the hills I love religiously for years to come.
Six years of mountain wrangling unite me with guides like my Great Grandpa Russ and adventurers as wild as Ned Frost and Mel Stonehouse. Every time I ride into camp and tie my pack string to a hitching pole built by one of these mountain legends, I get an awesome rush. When I share a fire and the silence of the Thorofare with hunters on the same ridge where my great-grandpa shared the wild with clients, I feel his spirit rise from the smoke to sit beside me.
As a man, that wild blood runs deep in me uniting me with brothers like August who set off for the marines more than two years ago but whose wild spirit rides with me on every hunt and Dion who I skipped school with so we could cook lunch over a fire below a high country waterfall.
Wyoming’s outdoor heritage is rich with memories. The ridges and streams whisper all of our stories and a thousand only known to the wildlife that has drank and bathed, fought and mated, given birth and died by their shores. Then there are my memories rich with the heritage of a state, a wilderness, a family, and a band of brothers that areall forever wild.
Skylar Gabel
Cody, WY
Wyoming Virtual Academy
Teacher: Virgina Nida
Second Place
Forever Wild!
“Forever Wild” can be interpreted several different ways by many different people. Literally, it would mean the perpetual existence of uncivilized places. However, this definition lacks depth and feeling, something quite contradictory to the overall sound of the phrase itself. Such an idea, though, is difficult to define and put into words. I feel that “Forever Wild” is the notion that there will always be free places for man to explore, discover and be, and not only in the literal sense.
Man has a thirst for knowledge, and especially discovery. Imagine how Lewis and Clark felt on their historical expedition and with each new discover they made, be it only the small prairie dog. New and uncharted is exciting. “Forever Wild” is a phrase that embodies such a belief so well, I fail to think of another expression to describe it. There will always be new things for man to discover and explore, and even then he will not find it all. Wyoming seems to be one of the final places in the United States where we are able to see “Forever Wild” itself. Found here are acres upon acres of unsettled land, free prairies and proud forests all teeming with life, and only a small percentage of such life is human. Wyoming is filled with wildlife, and is famous for it. Animals are left to roam and live as they please, less confined than other places. They help keep the notion of “Forever Wild” alive. Bears refuse to be timid or compliant in the face of a human and the deer refuse to stop roaming and the birds refuse to stop soaring. They are “Forever Wild”.
Wyoming is very literally “Forever Wild” in its geography and landscape. However, it also promotes the simple, nonphysical idea of “Forever Wild”. It is inspiring. The untamed wilderness and life that thrives within Wyoming’s borders stir within the minds of poets and artists alike, and they go on to express in words and images that this place is the place to be. It is the place to grow and explore the very depths of your mind and self and find who are and can be. It is quiet when you want it to be, and loud when that’s exactly what you need to drown your thoughts and just relax. Here, you can breathe clean, fresh air and drink clean, fresh water. It is the remedy for any mental ailment under the sun.
Wyoming is like water. It can be fast, wild, untamed, and uncontrollable and then an instant later it will change its flow and become tranquil, calm, at peace, and content. It is the place to discover the land and yourself. The atmosphere here is not to be found anywhere else. It is a dying breed. In the face of the hustle and bustle of big city living, it doesn’t seem like much. But, in my experience? It is the place to be. Wyoming is “Forever Wild”.
Brittany Wardell
Cheyenne, WY
South High
Teacher: Lisa Hushbeck
Third Place
Forever Wild!
Wyoming is a beautiful place, that’s for sure. From its mountainous countryside and thriving wildlife, it remains mostly untouched by civilization. So many places today are unappreciated and have been industrialized into cities. They release pollutants into the air.
The pollutants are ruining the beauty of many places, but nature doesn’t give up so easily. A lot of places remain untouched or unharmed by the bustling business of a city. One of these places is Ryan’s park, a place in the Rockies near Saratoga and Albany. My family and I go there every summer for camping, hiking and dredging. Ever since I was eight years old, it has been the one thing I look forward to every single year. The forest is so peaceful and open. Only the sound of birds chattering or twigs breaking is what you hear. Maybe sometimes dredges if you’re close enough. The water from Douglas creek is freezing, but refreshing on a hot summer day. I enjoy putting on a snorkel and watching the fish do a dance around my legs.
How beautiful it is to wake up every morning and see the dew sparkling on the green plants that surround you. It’s amazing to smell the truly fresh air. It’s enjoyable to watch the humming birds puff up from the bitter chill of the morning, and the ground hogs wrestle each other. The deer ascend from their hiding places in the woods for a drink, food, or just to welcome the sun to another day. No matter what happens in the world, Wyoming will always remain Forever wild!
Emily Bruce
Cheyenne, WY
South High
Teacher: Lisa Hushbeck
For More Information on Expo
Expo Planning Office
5400 Bishop Blvd.,
Cheyenne, WY 82006
1-888-EXPO-WYO