Clinton second-grader ‘surprised’ to win The Catholic Messenger’s Christmas card contest
This year’s Catholic Messenger Christmas Card Contest winner was Hope Wissink, 8, a second-grader at Prince of Peace Catholic School and Parish in Clinton.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
CLINTON — Second-grader Hope Wissink was happy and surprised to win this year’s Christmas Card Contest for The Catholic Messenger. The Prince of Peace Catholic School student entered after some nudging from her mom, Rachel Wissink, who teaches fifth grade at the school.
Hope was one of 416 students in grades kindergarten through sixth from throughout the Diocese of Davenport who entered this year’s contest. “I have a tear in my eye,” Principal Joe Brown said
Hope
over the phone to learn that one of his students is the overall winner.
Hope, who created her artwork at home, said she imagined Jesus in the stable while thinking about what she would draw. She used paint, her favorite art medium, to create her picture. She chose to paint the picture without sketching her drawing first. She likes to use paint because she can mix colors more easily.
The judges thought Hope’s yellow stars and fireflies made the artwork stand out against the dark sky. She first thought about giving the artwork a galaxy look but decided to stick with a typical night sky. “I changed my mind.”
Hope plans to continue creating artwork when she has time. “It’s pretty cool to win,” she said.
View additional artwork winners by category on Pages 6 and 7 of this week’s issue of The Catholic Messenger.
We would like to thank all 416 students who created artwork for the contest, along with their schools, teachers and parents who encouraged them.
First place in the grades K-2 category was a drawing by Bin Ying Dong, 6, a first-grader at St. James Catholic School and Parish in Washington.
Second place in the grades K-2 category was a drawing by Rosemarie Rodenborn, 7, a second-grader at St. James Catholic School and Parish in Washington.
Third place in the grades K-2 category was a drawing by Riley Dvorak, 7, a second- grader at St. Joseph Catholic School and Parish in DeWitt.
First place in the grades 3-4 category was a drawing by Alex Lopez-Hernandez, 8, a third-grader at St. James Catholic School and Parish in Washington.
Second place in the grades 3-4 category was a drawing by Brooke Johnson, 8, a third-grader at McKinley Elementary in Muscatine and member of Ss. Mary & Mathias Parish in Muscatine.
Third place in the grades 3-4 category was a drawing by Kenadie Hansen, 9, a fourth-grader at St. Joseph Catholic School and Parish in DeWitt.
First place in the grades 5-6 category was a drawing by Abe Struve, 11, a fifth-grader at Regina Elementary in Iowa City and a member of St. Patrick Parish in Iowa City.
Second place in the grades 5-6 category was a drawing by Patrick Nolte, 11, a sixth-grade homeschool student and a member of St. Wenceslaus Parish in Iowa City.
Third place in the grades 5-6 category was a drawing by Evan Hageman, 10, a fifth-grader at Regina Elementary in Iowa City and member of St. Thomas More Parish in Coralville.
