THOMASVILLE — The 14th annual Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday kicked off the festivities with its annual Children’s Elementary School Poster Contest unveiling.

The event was held Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Thomasville Cultural Center and included the top “100 Finalists,” family, friends and teachers.

The 2009 third-place winner was Alyvya Carla Washington, a fifth-grade student in Ms Abrams’ class at Harper Elementary School.

Second place was Lydia Scharff, a fourth-grade student in Mrs. Danner class from Thomasville Christian School.

First place went to Jack Atkinson, a fifth-grade student in Mrs. Burton’s class from Jerger Elementary School.

The contest, sponsored by Flowers Foods, covers Thomas, Grady and Mitchell counties with 2,700 children from kindergarten to fifth grade participating.

The theme for 2009 was “Backyard Buddies.”

Each child that submitted an entry received a small participation gift.

The top “100 Finalists” received a t-shirt with the winning artwork on it and a voucher for admission to the festival for one adult and one child.

The first-place winner has the honor of his artwork on the t-shirts and the festival poster and a pizza party for their homeroom class. The winner’s school receives $500 for the school’s art department.

Marta Turner of Flowers Foods said “encouraging creativity for young children is an essential part of their learning process and we are proud to be a part of this contest each year.”

“This contest represents an extension of the cultural center’s arts in education programs through monies raised by the Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival,” Sharlene Cannon, festival director, said in a news release. “The contest is a great way to include our community’s children in the festival and challenge their creativity.”

The entire top “100” finalist creations will be on exhibit in the Wild Discovery Center during the festival.