From left are St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School students Kelly Ritchy (with fifth grade teacher Cathy Schwarz) and Alex Rhodes (with sixth grade teacher Holly Allain).

WAKE FOREST — Kelly Ritchy and Alex Rhodes, students at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School, are the winners of the American History Essay Contest sponsored by Wake Forest’s General James Moore Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The annual contest was established to encourage young people in grades 5-8 to think creatively about the nation’s history and learn about history in a new light. This year’s topic was “Celebrating a Century: America’s National Parks.”

Ritchy, a fifth-grader, wrote about visiting Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Rhodes, who is in the sixth grade, focused on her experiences at Great Smoky Mountains National Park which is located at the North Carolina/Tennessee border.