Catholic teen from Wisconsin wins national duck stamp competition

Published: 2005-06-22

GRANTSBURG, Wis. (CNS) -- Kerissa Nelson, the 17-year-old winner of the 2005 National Junior Duck Stamp competition, credits her God-given talent for the success of her painting of a pair of ring-necked ducks. "God gave me these talents, I just put them to use. That's the biggest part of winning this award," said Nelson, a member of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Grantsburg. Nelson, who competed against junior artists from across the country, also gave credit to her Grantsburg High School art teacher, Bruce Teigen. "He thought I had the potential to enter the competition. He knew I had talent and helped shape that talent," she said. "He's been the biggest influence on my art." Duck stamps, formally known as Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, serve both as a hunting license for migratory waterfowl and a conservation tool, generating more than $670 million since 1934 to purchase or lease more than 5.2 million acres of waterfowl habitat in the United States. The junior duck stamp program for students in kindergarten to 12th grade began in 1989 and includes an environmental education program aimed at teaching conservation through the arts. A federal duck stamp and a junior duck stamp are produced each year by the U.S. Postal Service for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, but they are not valid for postage.

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