From staff reports:

A Federal Way girl was awarded the 2013 Washington Apple Education Foundation (WAEF) Year of the Apple Art Contest grand prize. Young-eon Kim, a junior attending Charles Wright Academy, received word she won the top prize in a surprise ceremony in the middle of art class with teacher Brian Hutcheson on Sept. 12.

Sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, the contest — now in its 18th year — encourages art students in kindergarten through 12th grade across the state to seek inspiration from Washington’s biggest crop. Young-Eon’s winning submission, “Apples Under the Balcony at Sunset,” garnered her a $750 cash prize and inclusion in the 2014 Dow AgroSciences wall calendar.

“Three apples with raindrops on them inspired me to paint,” Young-eon said in a news release. “I actually painted another drawing first, but Washington is a good representative of a rainy region, so I thought this composition would best fit the contest.”

Seven students from three grade divisions (kindergarten through fourth grade, fifth grade through eighth grade, and ninth grade through 12th grade) received shares of the $1,650 in prize money for their award-winning works. One hundred dollars will also be awarded to each winning student’s school to purchase classroom art supplies. Young-eon says she hopes to continue to study art after graduation from CWA.

“My favorite form of drawing would be pen drawing,” she said. “I started art because I always have loved to doodle on homework paper, and pen is my most comfortable media to use.”

The Washington Apple Education Foundation is the charity of Washington state’s tree fruit industry and is dedicated to coordinating, promoting, and developing educational opportunities reflecting the values of tree fruit industry members.