BANGOR – Art pupils at Fruit Street School are tops in the state when it comes to waterfowl. They received the majority of the Maine awards in the 2005 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest for grades one through three and also garnered a whole raft of honorable mentions.

“The idea of wildlife conservation and how to keep the air and water clean for these beautiful ducks is always discussed before we start our drawings,” explained art teacher Wendy Libby.

“The students love to tell stories of how many ducks they have seen and where they saw them,” she added. “We have entered the contest for many years, and as far as I am concerned, it is one of the best-run contests.”

The contest is sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service.

Graham W. Taylor, deputy refuge manager at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells, sent along ribbons and a Junior Duck Stamp patch for the winners.

In addition, first-place winners received a prize from the Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor. Second-place winners received an Audubon pocket guide to waterfowl, and third-place winners a Blue Goose beanie.

Each pupil participating received a certificate.

Winners this year are as follows:

First place: Harrison Dieuveuil, grade one; Colin Glencross, grade one; Matthew Huntington, grade two.

Second place: Andrew Cram, grade three; Andrew Sandweiss, grade two; Cameron Crawford, grade two.

Third place: Alexander Milder, grade three; Allison Wilson, grade three; Emily Michaud, grade three.

Honorable mention: Chantal Tompkins, kindergarten; Jared Willette, kindergarten; Garrick Craft, kindergarten; Brianna Lindsay, grade one; Shania Simonds, grade two; Maria Vanadia, grade two; Sydni Cosgrove, grade two; Taylor Simpson, grade two; Jennifer Dickison, grade three; Andrew Arsenault, grade three; Joseph Kacer, grade three; Kenneth Colpritt, grade three; Garrett Johnson, grade three; Jacob Legere, grade three.