Out of all of the winners at each of the retail sponsors, one talented individual was chosen from each grade level, kindergarten through fourth grade. These grand prize winners were then rewarded with their own, personal Easter basket from The Papers Inc. Pictured, from left, are Payton Slaymaker, Evelyn Brown, Keira Daley, Aliah Barkey and Kayanna Secrist.

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY—Local students in kindergarten through fourth grade were invited to participate in the Easter coloring contest and turn in their entries to each of the 15 participating sponsors. Using crayons, markers, gel pens, paint and glitter, children turned in a marvelous assortment of entries to choose from.

Editorial staff members from The Papers Inc. were given the difficult task of choosing the winners from the nearly 400 colorful entries. Winners were then called and notified. A winner was chosen from each of the 15 sponsors.

Grand prize winners were then chosen by grade level from among the 15 winners. The local sponsors provided the winners with a small prize and The Papers awarded them with a chocolate bunny. The grand prize winners were presented a basket from The Papers filled with treats and toys.

The highly sought after grand prize Easter baskets filled with a variety of delightful treats were awarded, one for each grade level, to Payton Slaymaker as the kindergarten winner; Kayanna Secrist as the first-grade winner; Evelyn Brown as the second-grade winner; Keira Daley as the third-grade winner and Aliah Barkey as the fourth grade winner. Each of the winners could hardly wait to open up their basket and see what goodies awaited inside.

One winner was selected by The Papers Inc. editorial staff from each of the retail establishments who sponsored a coloring entry in the annual Easter coloring contest. Pictured, from left, are Emily Potts, Annabelle Paton, Elizabeth Eckman, Eliza Paton, Emily Haverstock and Allison Slone. In the back is Jenna Miller. Not pictured are Marcos Jackson, Joas Schwartz and Owen Aukeman.

One winner was also chosen from each of the 15 retail sponsors. On The Grow awarded Elizabeth Eckman, a kindergarten student at Madison Elementary, a prize as the winning contestant. Marcos Jackson, second grader, was chosen as the winner at The Mattress Source.

Two sisters were chosen as winners. Eliza Paton, a fourth grader at Washington Elementary, was chosen from the Creighton’s Crazy Egg entries and her younger sister, Annabelle Paton, a first-grade student at Washington Elementary, was chosen among all the entries from the Kosciusko County Community Fair.

At the Lake Street Penguin Point location, a kindergarten student from Claypool Elementary, Payton Slaymaker, was presented with a prize for being the winning entry. Evelyn Brown, a home schooled second-grade student, was selected as the winner at the Pizza Hut Detroit Street location. A kindergarten student named Joas Schwartz was presented a prize for winning the contest at Miller’s Rite Choice Foods.

A Washington Elementary fourth-grader, Aliah Barkey, was chosen as the winner from the many colorful entries at Wal Mart. A third-grade student, Keira Daley, from Warsaw Christian School was selected from the many Zale’s entries.

The Arby’s on North Detroit Street awarded Emily Haverstock, a first-grade student at Washington Elementary, a prize. Among the entries turned in at The Spectacle Shoppe, Kayanna Secrist, a first grader at Lincoln Elementary, took home the prize. The Lake Village Pizza Hut location treated Owen Aukeman, a first-grade student from Washington Elementary, to a prize for winning.

Allison Slone, a fourth-grade student at Claypool Elementary was announced as the winner at the Center Street Penguin Point. The Penguin Point on North Detroit Street awarded a second-grade student from Claypool Elementary, Emily Potts, a prize for her winning entry. A third-grader from Leesburg Elementary, Jenna Miller, was selected as the winner at Montieth’s.