(COLUMBIA, SC) - A Pawley’s Island student has won second place honors in the statewide Arbor Day poster contest. Karin Thrash, a fifth-grader from Waccamaw Elementary, created a poster showing the growth stages of an oak tree.

Thrash will receive $25 in cash from the SC Urban and Community Forestry Council, and an Audubon Tree Guide from the Forestry Commission. The awards will be formally presented at an Arbor Day ceremony in Columbia on December 6.

Thrash was recognized from a field of more than 30 finalists statewide. The contest, sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota, is administered in SC by the Forestry Commission’s Urban Forestry Program. This year’s theme, "Trees are Terrific . . . From Acorn to Oak," reflected findings that most Americans think the oak is symbolic of the nation’s values.

For more information, contact: Liz Gilland, 803-896-8864