Dream rooms, healthy eats and mini quilts on display at Chestnut Ridge contest
Close to 100 seventh and eighth-grade girls from Chestnut Ridge, Mount Hope, Wise and Sharp Run elementary schools showcased their creative skills Oct. 29, participating in the annual middle school family and consumer science contest held at Chestnut Ridge Elementary.The girls participated in three categories: dream bedroom, mini-quilt and food pyramid poster.
The event was designed to allow the girls to use their creativity and abilities in designing either a miniature bedroom, a quilt or a food pyramid poster (for seventh grade).
“The girls look forward to this each year, because it is a very tough and challenging task,” said Shannon Stutzman, seventh-grade consumer science teacher at Chestnut Ridge, who along with eighth grade consumer science teacher Diane Morgan run the show on the exciting day for the girls.
Each of the categories had their own unique set of criteria by which the judges based their placements. The rooms were judged on percentage of work done by themselves, creativity, use of color, room proportions, arrangement of furniture and patterns within the room. The quilts were judged on how well colors complemented each other, percent of quilting that each girl did on her own, difficulty of sewn patches, correct binding and overall appearance. Posters were judged by correct spelling, complete and correct information, originality, neatness and color.
In a real rarity, this year’s dream bedroom winner, eighth-grader Rebecca Yoder, was also last year’s poster winner, something that has rarely happened since the contest began nearly three decades ago.
“I like making crafts, and I can’t say that I had more fun making one more than the other,” said Yoder, who attends Wise School. “I just like being creative.”
Yoder said that she got the idea for her incredible dream bedroom from a room in her uncle’s house. Sharon Troyer, of Chestnut Ridge, placed second, with Kathy Yoder, of Wise, garnering third. Overall top three positions in four different school classifications went to the following: Mt. Hope: Krista Miller, Katrina Miller and Julie Weaver; Wise: Rebecca Yoder, Kathy Yoder and Kristine Yoder (tie) and Annie Christine Miller and Regina Beachy (tie); Chestnut Ridge A: Sharon Troyer, Leah Weaver and Linda Hershberger; Chestnut Ridge B: Marnita Kuhns, Jolene Miller and Ada Mae Raber. Honorable mention honors went to: Charity Miller, Chestnut Ridge B, Maria Sue Schlabach, Chestnut Ridge A, Joanna Yoder, Wise, Diane Troyer, Wise, Leanna Miller, Mt. Hope and Leah Hershberger, Mt. Hope.
Lisa Miller took top honors in the mini quilt contest. Miller was followed in the contest by runner-up Lori Kline of Chestnut Ridge and third-place finisher Deborah Yoder of Chestnut Ridge. Top three finishers for each school included, Wise: Lisa Miller, Laura Yoder and Leah Mast; Chestnut Ridge A: Deborah Yoder, Katie Hershberger and Lisa Yoder; Chestnut Ridge B: Lori Kline, Rosetta Beachy and Sara Hochstetler.
Cheryl Wengerd, of Mt. Hope, was named top winner in the seventh-grade My Pyramid poster contest, followed by Sheila Miller of Chestnut Ridge and Maria Yoder of Wise 7A, and Maria Yoder (tied for second) and Ruth Yoder of Wise 7B and Julia Weaver of Chestnut Ridge (tied for third). Top school winners in order of finish were, Mt. Hope: Cheryl Wengerd, Emily Miller and Rebecca Troyer, with Kari Miller and Rhoda Mast earning honorable mentions; Wise 7A: Maria Yoder, Mari Kay Miller and Rachel Yoder, with Lori Yoder and Barbara Troyer receiving honorable mention; Wise 7B: Ruth A. Yoder, Anna Kaye Yoder and Karen Mast, with Cinda Erb receiving honorable mention; Chestnut Ridge: Sheila Miller, Julia Weaver and Rachel Troyer, with Lori Beth Mast, Tena Miller and Cheryl Yoder earning honorable mention.
The reason behind so many ties was simple, as the judges were faced with numerous tough decisions when basing the products against all of the criteria.
“There were a lot of very impressive pieces here today,” said Karen Anderton, a retired consumer science teacher. “We were very impressed. The girls seemed to have put a lot of thought and work into what they did, and many of them were so incredibly detailed that it made it tough to choose. We were really dragging our feet for a while. It was just plain difficult.“
“You try to figure out how they stack up against the criteria, but in the end, it was so close that it came down to which bedroom was the most original, or which quilt was the most creative,” said Lorene Gregory, also a retired consumer science teacher. “The little bedrooms were the most difficult because you can go a lot of different ways when designing them. Looking at all of these makes me want to make one myself. The girls did a fantastic job, and the overall quality in every category was excellent. The girls really seemed to take this contest to the next level.”
Gregory said that when comparing the bedrooms in particular to her classes from former years, the girls’ work was equivalent to that of a junior or senior in high school.
The list of judges for the event included retired educator Donna Young, along with Katie Barkman, Mary Barkman, home decorator Katja Ryan, Gregory and Anderton.
“We’re so proud of all of the kids for a fantastic job,” said Stutzman.