A Kootenai County student has earned top honors for his entry in the Idaho Forest Products Commission's annual Forest Products Week Essay Contest.

The commission announced Tuesday that Jakob Karels, a student at Natural Connections Academy in Worley, is the first-place writer for the fifth grade division. Jakob wrote an essay praising Idaho trees and how they provide clean air, wood and paper products for people to enjoy. He wrote how cool it is that trees "slowly absorb and release particles of air." He discussed how trees and their tree friends use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and how they also help with processes of the water cycle.

"I love trees because they are always doing stuff for us," he wrote.

Jakob is among six Idaho students who received certificates and cash awards, plus $100 for their classrooms.

For the contest, elementary students wrote essays expressing their appreciation for trees and forests while secondary students considered the challenges facing forests, such as climate change and wildfires, and offered recommendations for future forest management.

“We enjoyed reading about students’ personal connections to trees and their views on sustainable management of this renewable resource,” Idaho Forest Products Commission Education program manager Michelle Youngquist said in the announcement.

The Idaho Forest Products Commission provides information and education programs about Idaho’s forests and the forest products sector, including contests and classroom resources for teachers.

Visit www.idahoforests.org for details.

Three other North Idaho students earned honorable mentions. The Press will share their names once received from their schools.

Read the winning essays: idahoforests.org/essaycontest