Katherine Koning, a sophomore at Holland Christian High in Holland, Michigan, and Julia Holleman, a freshman at Heritage Christian in Dyer, Indiana, placed first and second, respectively, in a photo contest sponsored by Dordt College’s Environmental Studies Department. Katherine’s essay reflected on her photo of hot springs; Julia’s entry was entitled “Raindrops on a Rose of Sharon.” To see/read their winning submissions, click here.
Contestants submitted digital photo and companion essays explaining how their photos illustrated the topic “Becoming Native.” Students were “encouraged to creatively capture anything that depicts the creation praising God, highlighting the God-given value of creation” and essays could “respond to some aspect of the following quote: ‘I want to love all that God has made and called “very good”: to shamar [preserve] and abad [serve] here in this place.’"
Contest submissions were “evaluated based on creativity, quality of the photograph, and ability to explain how the photograph illustrates the reality of ‘Becoming Native.’”