The Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition has announced nine winners of its 2026 Crane-Inspired Creative Arts Scholarship Contest, states a recent news release. 

The annual contest is open to high school seniors in Routt and Moffat counties, offering them a chance to submit original works that accurately reflect the physical features, behavior and habitat of Greater Sandhill Cranes in the Yampa Valley. 

The coalition received a record 27 entries for the contest. Program sponsors Sandra and Keith Miller, as well as an anonymous donor, helped fund the $10,000 in continuing education funds to the nine contest winners. 

In the “Story or Essay” category, Steamboat Springs High School senior Shannon Kane won first place with her creative nonfiction story, “Seeing Through the Eyes of a Crane.” SSHS student Anna Schumacher took home second place with her essay, “The Long Way Home.” 

In “Poetry or Song,” Sofia Vanzo, graduating senior at Moffat County High School, won first place with her song, “A Lesson From a Crane.” SSHS student Miela Brinkman was awarded second place with a poetry collection, with fellow SSHS student Mirabella Smith winning the honorable mention, also with a poetry collection.

In “Visual Arts,” MCHS senior Valarie Dillidine was awarded first place with her colored-pencil work “Wings Over Yampa.” Marie Roberts, also from MCHS, won second place with her sculpture, “Wade in the Water.”

Further winners in the Visual Arts category include honorable mentions Anna Boness and Lucy Capra, both from SSHS. Boness created a paper quill work titled “Feathered in Paper,” while Capra wove a free-motion thread piece called “Threaded Dance.”

First-place winners receive a $2,000 scholarship, second-place winners receive $1,000 and honorable mentions receive $500.