Amy McLeod
Thursday, May 26, 2016 10:00 am

Facebook's Forest City Data Center hosted an awards ceremony Friday, May 20 to announce the winners of their fifth annual middle school art contest.

This year's theme was "Be the Nerd: Facebook and Education." Local middle schoolers were asked to express how Facebook plays a role in education, and how education will help them reach their full potential. More than 50 pieces of art were received from middle schools in Rutherford County.

The participating schools for this year include: RS Middle School, East Middle School, Chase Middle School and Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy. The entries were judged by the employees of data center and narrowed down to the top 20. The winners were honored during a reception at the data center.

Those winners are listed below by school:

RS Middle School

• Emma Rogers

• Ashley Sentz

• Tia Bowers

• Jared Lynch

• Bryson Rhoads

• Brooke Barrella

• KayLee Whiteside

• Savannah Bates

• Rudy Burns

East Middle School

• Josh Jordan

• Peyton Jackson

• Shawn Curtis

• Katie Anders

• Azy Sturgill

• Destiny Hutchins

Chase Middle School

• Karah Ruppe

• Carolyn Braley

• Haley Granger

Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy

• Zachary Flontek

• Jamie Fuleihan

"The art contest is a favorite at the data center," says Keven McCammon, Forest City Data Center Site Manager. "We are always impressed with the talent of

these young artists. They do great work and make it hard on us to choose the winners. We are lucky to have such creative, smart young minds right here in Rutherford County."

The winners, along with their principals, parents, teachers and Facebook employees, attended the ceremony on Friday. The 20 winners will have their artwork displayed inside the Forest City Data Center for one year. They each received a special gift and a tour of the data center.