COEUR d'ALENE - They might be young, but with a bit of research, students found connections to Kootenai County's past that inspired them to write winning essays.

The Kootenai County Historic Preservation Commission on Tuesday night announced the six winners of the Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) Essay Contest.

The essay writers were required to address one of four broad categories of Kootenai County history: structures or sites, current or potential archaeological sites, a person or group, or an event or movement.

Local historian Robert Singletary told the winners, who gathered at the county administrative building downtown, that history is what makes us who we are today.

"As a historian, I can't tell you how pleased I am, and I've read a great many of these (essay submissions)," said Singletary, who also is a member of the Historic Preservation Commission.

Eighth-grader Malia Ditto's essay, titled "The Clark House," took first-place among the middle school entrants. The middle school essays were limited to 500 words, and the winners took home $250 for first place, $150 for second, and $50 for third.

"I moved here just a couple years ago, so I didn't really know very much about the area," said Ditto, 13, of River City Middle School in Post Falls. "When we were assigned to do the essay, I was interested to learn more about the area."

Jenna Gardiner, an eighth-grader from River City, earned second place with her essay, "Treaty Rock: Where Two Cultures Came Together." Isabel Fisher, a seventh-grader from St. Dominic Girls School, was third with an essay titled "Cataldo."

The first-place high school essay was titled "The Blackrobes and the Coeur d'Alene," written by Lake City High School 11th-grader Erin Hague.

"The topic of the essay was people, movements and places," said Hague, 16. The high school essays were limited to 800 words, and the winners took home $250, $150, or $50.

As part of her research, she made a trip to the Museum of North Idaho, and learned about Father Pierre-Jean DeSmet, the Coeur d'Alene Indians and the Cataldo Mission.

"There are lots of pieces involved in history," Hague said. "If you look into it there's lots of influences that make something happen like Coeur d'Alene and the Northwest."

Anna Kirkham, a ninth-grade home-schooled student, earned second in the high school division with an essay, titled "Farragut Naval Training Station." Emily Brown, a 10th-grade home-schooled student, was third with her essay, "Ladies of the lake."

The commission received 52 essay entries, with 36 of those from middle schoolers and 16 from high schoolers, said Skip Fuller of the Historic Preservation Commission. Public, private and home-school students participated, he said.