Despite the snow blanketing the ground, Minot Forest Elementary students received awards for some very green accomplishments on Friday.

The Wareham Garden Club awarded students for their participation in the Woodsy Owl “Lend a Hand, Care for the Land” poster contest, and as winners in the “Croaking, Leaping Frogs” poetry contest.

The theme of the poetry contest was environmental awareness, and specifically about frogs. All the submissions focused on the important role frogs play as indicators of the health of the environment. The winners will have their poems published in a book sponsored by the National Garden Club.

The poster competition asked students to observe, explore, and care for the environment. The winners for the contest have not yet been announced, but the students who entered in the contest received certificates of participation at the assembly.

One of the winners of the poetry contest, Emma Sylvia Rose, ranked first among all third graders in Massachusetts. When her classmates heard about her accomplishment, they cheered her on.

“It was great to see the kids excitement when they heard that their classmates won,” said Robin Murphy, Assistant Principal at Minot Forest. “It makes me think, 'Okay, this is why I'm here.'”

Sylvia Rose' poem was chosen out of a pool of poems by third graders across the state by the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts. Her submission will go to the National Garden Club, which will choose a national winner.

The National Garden Club hosts the contests every year. They send out a poster invitation to the state garden clubs, and the state garden clubs pass the invitation to individual town garden clubs. However, it is up to each individual teacher how the poems and posters are created. At Minot Forest Elementary, some decide to use class time while others encourage students to work on the projects individually.

There were 183 poems and 21 poster submissions from Wareham schools. Minot Forest contributed 28 poetry submissions and five poster submissions. It was the school's first time participating in both contests.

At the end of the assembly, members of the Wareham Garden Club thanked the students for their hard work and presented the school with a book titled, “The Frightened Frog.” They said it will allow students learn more about frogs, their habitats, and ways to help them.