Since mid January hundreds of Indiana 5th graders have been anxiously awaiting the announcement of the winners of the 2008 David Deuter Memorial Essay Contest.  These youngsters composed an original essay in approximately 100 words on the subject "What Being A Good Citizen Means To Me".

    Invitations were sent to all elementary schools in the date and all 5th graders were challenged to enter their essay in their school's contest.  

    From all essay's received one winner was selected from each Indiana County.  In 2008, we are pleased to announce that we had 100% county participation once again.  From the county winners a statewide winner and four runners-up were selected.

    Thanks to the cooperation of Indiana State Police District Commanders and Public Information Officers, area troopers presented Award Certificates to the county winners at their school's end of year programs.

    On Friday, June 13, 2008 at 1pm in the North Atrium of the Indiana State House, all winners and their families will be guests at the Statewide Awards Program.

    The statewide winner will receive a $1,000 US Savings Bond, while the four runners-up will receive $750 in bonds.  The remaining 87 county winners will receive a $500 bond.   All winners will receive engraved plaques, Governor's "You Make A Difference" Certificates, and other gifts compliments of the Indiana Troopers Association.

    2008 marks the 12th year the ITA has provided the 5th Grade Essay Contest distributing thousands of dollars of savings bonds and other gifts to reward students for their efforts in promoting good citizenship across Indiana.

    Following is a list of the 2008 winners:

County	FirstName	LastName	SchoolName	County Winner	Top 5 Placement
Adams	Meredith	Werling	Monmouth Elementary School	TRUE
Allen	Sarah	Gibson	Francis M Price Elem School	TRUE
Bartholomew	Darion	Denniston	Lillian Schmitt Elem School	TRUE
Benton	Connor	Chambers	Otterbein Elementary School	TRUE
Blackford	Shelby	Peace	Montpelier School	TRUE
Boone	Zach	Schroeder	Central Elementary School	TRUE
Brown	Sarah	Brown	Nashville Elementary School	TRUE
Carroll	Karlee	Kitchel	Carroll Elementary School	TRUE
Cass	Olivia	Little	Landis Elementary School	TRUE	State Wide
Clark	Bailee	Kruer	William W Borden Elem School	TRUE
Clay	Taylor	Moore	Van Buren Elementary School	TRUE
Clinton	Jacklyn	Lewis	Clinton Central Elem School	TRUE
Crawford	Robert	Schwartz	Patoka Elementary School	TRUE
Daviess	John	Cangelosi	Barr Reeve Intermediate School	TRUE
Dearborn	Ryley	Stonebraker	Saint Paul Elementary School	TRUE
Decatur	Courtney	Nelson	Greensburg Elementary School	TRUE	5th Place
DeKalb	Ashlyn	Teders	James R Watson Elem School	TRUE
Delaware	Reagan	Allen	Desoto Elementary School	TRUE
Dubois	Aleah	Hurst	Holy Family School	TRUE
Elkhart	Yelizaveta	Chernikova	Model Elementary School	TRUE
Fayette	Olivia	McMillan	Frazee Elementary School	TRUE	4th Place
Floyd	Zachary	Allan	Grant Line School	TRUE
Fountain	Kara	Harmeson	Attica Elementary School	TRUE
Franklin	Lauren	Mohr	Mount Carmel School	TRUE
Fulton	Tristan	Justice	Akron Elementary School	TRUE
Gibson	Mason	Rode	Brumfield Elementary School	TRUE
Grant	Bailey	Batman	Westview Elementary School	TRUE
Greene	Trevor	Sparks	Lyons Elementary School	TRUE
Hamilton	Maria	Makeever	Riverside School	TRUE
Hancock	Jennifer	Johnston	Eden Elementary School	TRUE
Harrison	Bethany	McClanahan	Corydon Intermediate School	TRUE
Hendricks	Courtney	Kerr	Avon Intermediate School East	TRUE
Henry	Katie	Pfaff	Tri-Elementary School	TRUE
Howard	Katie	Robins	Wallace Elementary School	TRUE
Huntington	Shelby	Spencer	Flint Springs Elementary	TRUE
Jackson	Macey	Warren	Saint Ambrose School	TRUE
Jasper	Courtney	Cook	Kankakee Valley Intermediate School	TRUE
Jay	Lucy	Hemmelgarn	East Elementary School	TRUE
Jefferson	Collan	Henderson	Pope John XXIII School	TRUE
Jennings	Scarlett	Smith	Scipio Elementary School	TRUE
Johnson	Brianna	Terhune	Maple Grove Elementary School	TRUE
Knox	Weston	Frisz	Frances Vigo Elementary School	TRUE
Kosciusko	Bryce	Zimpelman	Mentone Elementary School	TRUE
LaGrange	Jessica	Valentine	Prairie Heights Middle School	TRUE
Lake	Mary	Wilson	Saint Mary School	TRUE
LaPorte	Kasey	Pawlak	Springfield Elementary School	TRUE
Lawrence	Kyle	Waggoner	Burris Elementary School	TRUE	3rd Place
Madison	Breanna	Pryor	Pendleton Elementary School	TRUE
Marion	Emily	Straley	Saint Matthew School	TRUE
Marshall	Theodore	Browne	Saint Michael School	TRUE
Martin	Janson	Sherer	Loogootee East Elem/Md School	TRUE
Miami	Bailey	Miller	Blair Pointe Upper Elementary	TRUE
Monroe	Maggie	Hopkins	Childs Elementary School	TRUE
Montgomery	Cierra	King	Pleasant Hill Elementary School	TRUE
Morgan	Meredith	Knieper	Monrovia Elementary School	TRUE
Newton	Owen	Crum	Lincoln Elementary School	TRUE
Noble	Mariah	Gudakunst	Cornerstone Christian School	TRUE
Ohio	David	Haneberg	Ohio County Elem-Middle School	TRUE
Orange	Bree	Sullivan	Orleans Elementary School	TRUE	2nd Place
Owen	Courtlyn	Mims	Spencer Elementary School	TRUE
Parke	Brandon	Cooper	Rockville Elementary School	TRUE
Perry	Grace	James	Perry Central Elem School	TRUE
Pike	Sarah	Hopf	Otwell Elementary School	TRUE
Porter	Jake	Nix	Kouts Elementary School	TRUE
Posey	Haley	Winiger	St. Philip School	TRUE
Pulaski	Jaymin	Siple	Monterey Elementary School	TRUE
Putnam	Hannah	Jones	Central Elementary School	TRUE
Randolph	Destiney	Duncan	Monroe Central Elem School	TRUE
Ripley	Cara	Walters	Milan Middle School	TRUE
Rush	Jeremy	Hallgarth	Mays Elementary School	TRUE
Scott	Nicole	Smith	Scottsburg Elem School	TRUE
Shelby	Zechariah	Garrette	Waldron Elementary School	TRUE
Spencer	Kerrigan	Shourds	Luce Elementary School	TRUE
St Joseph	Matthew	Rice	Saint Matthew Cathedral School	TRUE
Starke	Katherine	Watts	Oregon-Davis Elementary School	TRUE
Steuben	Kaileigh	Folland	Fremont Middle School	TRUE
Sullivan	Nathan	Pirtle	Carlisle Elem and Junior High	TRUE
Switzerland	Adeli	Kinne	Jefferson-Craig Elem School	TRUE
Tippecanoe	Georgia	Urschel	Mayflower Mill Elem School	TRUE
Tipton	Kate	Regnier	Tipton Elementary School	TRUE
Union	Emily	Ellinger	College Corner Union Elem School	TRUE
Vanderburgh	Ernestine	Tramill	Lincoln Elementary School	TRUE
Vermillion	Zeth	Jumps	North Vermillion Elem School	TRUE
Vigo	Anthony	Cheesman	Rio Grande Elementary School	TRUE
Wabash	Jenna	Halderman	Saint Bernard Elementary School	TRUE
Warren	Madeline	Beyer	Warren Central Elem School	TRUE
Warrick	Isiah	Farmer	Chandler Elementary School	TRUE
Washington	Bailey	Ferguson	East Washington Middle School	TRUE
Wayne	Hannah	Young	Hagerstown Elementary School	TRUE
Wells	Kayla	Zumbrun	Southern Wells Elem School	TRUE
White	Will	Novack	Oaklawn Elementary School	TRUE
Whitley	Stacy	Quinn	Northern Heights Elementary School	TRUE

Congratulations to all of our winners!