Hawaii students draw winning frogs

Three students from Kapolei Middle School won top honors in the first international Frog Art Contest.

The contest, held Dec. 8 in Manassas, Va., by the nonprofit Save the Frogs, received entries from 10 countries worldwide.

Tokino Springer, 12, won the 10 to 13 years old category; Liann Cagle, 15, won the 13-17 category; and Paul Andrew Viernes, 13, received an honorable mention, the organization announced. The school's art teacher, Daryle Mishina, also received an honorable mention.

Dr. Kerry Kriger, who heads Save the Frogs, said, “;It was great to see such great art coming from Hawaii, the only state without native frog populations.”;

The purpose of the Frog Art Contest is to raise awareness of the rapid disappearance of frog species at unprecedented rates. Nearly one-third of the world's 6,500 amphibian species are threatened with extinction, a release said.

The students' artwork can be seen here.

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”;Shining Stars”; runs Sunday.