Bookmark contest passes airport board's expectations

Over 10,000 blank bookmarks were sent out to elementary school districts across Yuma County to promote literacy, and one student's bookmark was chosen as the best.

Sara Strandberg, a fifth-grade student at Mesquite Elementary School, was recently announced as the grand prize winner for the best designed bookmark.

“The airport has co-sponsored the bookmark contest with the Yuma Scorpions for several years. It's a fun way to promote the importance of reading and gives the students the ability to express their artistic skills,” said Gen Grosse, airport spokeswoman.

Before Strandberg was officially selected, 24 finalists were chosen from Rio Colorado, Gadsden, Desert View, Cesar Chavez, Arizona Desert, Tierra Del Sol, Desert Mesa, Rolle, Price, Gwyneth Ham, O.C. Johnson, Sunrise, Otondo, Carver, McGraw, Palmcroft, Alice Byrne, Pecan Grove, HLS, Valley Horizon, Salida Del Sol, Mesquite, Gary Knox and Rancho Viejo elementary schools.

A pizza party for the finalists was held at Chuck E. Cheese to honor them for advancing on to the next round of the competition.

Finalists were each given a baseball, four tickets to a Scorpions baseball game and a gift bag from the airport. As the grand prize winner, Strandberg received a boxed set of the Harry Potter books and was asked to throw the first pitch at the Feb. 25 baseball game.

Jose Melendez, general manager of the Yuma Scorpions Winter League, said, “We were thrilled to be involved in this literacy program with the airport again, and our involvement with the students and their families is extremely important to the Scorpions organization.”

According to Grosse, a winner from each class was selected by their teacher and the bookmarks were sent to the Scorpions, who narrowed the 147 selected bookmarks down to 24 finalists. The bookmarks were then given to the Airport Authority for its board of directors to select a grand prize winner.

“Our board members were so impressed with the detail on each of the bookmarks created by third-, fourth- and fifth-graders,” said Craig Williams, airport director. “They really had a tough time selecting the grand prize winner.

“We're very appreciative of the hard work and contributions by each student and the Yuma Scorpions organization for the overall success of this literacy program.”

Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.