Art draws kids to festival

At the Insect Fear Film Festival held at Foellinger Auditorium three-hundred and sixty entries were submitted to the Art Contest, the largest amount of entries the entomology faculty has seen since they first began the contest.

One of the winners from the elementary level attended the Insect Fear Film Festival to be recognized for her accomplishment. "Once we found out about the Insect Fear Festival from Maren's teacher, we could not miss it," said Laura Larkin, Maren Markin's mother. Maren is a second grader from Carrie Busey Elemtary School. "Her teacher submitted the best drawings, and Maren's ended up getting second."

Maren said she likes insects because "they have been around for so long." Maren is not afraid of insects, but she does not like grasshoppers or cockroaches. She said the rest are fine.

Charles Kostro and his son, Joshua Kostro, come to the film festival every year. “It is something interactive for the kids to do,” said Charles. He said they really like beetles.

A close ratio of adults to children attended the festival. Most who attended were either there with their children, or wanted to learn the history and evolution of bugs.