Honoring patriotic students 

The Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Auxiliary in Port Washington recently honored the winners of its poppy poster and essay contests. (Top photo, from left) Unit President Diane Burkhalter held the poster made by Lucas Mercer, a third-grader at Sugar Maple Nature School who took first place in the second and third-grade division; Collette Olson, an eighth-grader at Thomas Jefferson Middle School who took third place in the eighth and ninth-grade division; Bluebell Gremminger, an eighth-grader at T.J. who took first place in the local and state contests and second place in the national contest; and Birdie Gremminger, a ninth-grader at Wisconsin Virtual Learning Academy who took second place in the eighth and ninth-grade division. Students competing in the essay contest wrote pieces on “Celebrating America’s 250th birthday and the veterans who fought for our freedom.” At left, Cecelia Crane, a fifth-grader at T.J., took third place in the fifth and sixth grade group; Kaitlyn Johnson, a sixth-grader at T.J., took second place in the division and Dhruv Narasimhan, a fifth-grader at T.J., took first place locally and fourth in the state competition. Not pictured were Lucas Mercer, who took first place in the local, state and national third and fourth-grade contests, and Josephine Smith, an eight-grader at T.J. who took first place her division.   Photos by Sam Arendt