Two students from Hollister were two of 13 winners
– including the top prize – in a recent art contest among
schools throughout the Monterey Bay area to promote cleaner
air.
Two students from Hollister were two of 13 winners – including the top prize – in a recent art contest among schools throughout the Monterey Bay area to promote cleaner air.
Third-grader Gabriel Hatcher of Sacred Heart School was the Grand Prize winner and Kayla Ferriera, an eighth-grader at Marguerite Maze Middle School – was one of the 12 remaining winners in the contest that asked participants to illustrate the use of commute alternatives.
The fifth annual contest, titled “It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air,” was sponsored by the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District and the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.
Students in grades 1 through 8 in San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties were eligible for the contest. Each of the 13 winners will receive a prize of $100 at a ceremony May 21at the MBUAPCD office in Monterey.
Hatcher’s winning crayon drawing depicts a hand with fingers spread, each displaying an alternative transportation method including walking, biking, bussing, van pooling and a scooter.
Ferriera’s drawing shows the front end of a bicycle with five different aspects of nature drawn on each of the wheel’s spokes – the ocean, a tree, the moon, a hill and a plant.
Although Ferreira’s work was an assignment in her art class, she said the students “really made it our own thing.”
“I wanted it to be different than a lot of other people’s (projects),” she said.
Ferreira correlated the bicycle with a nature theme in her drawing because, she said, “by riding a bicycle, we can preserve those things.”
More than 240 posters were submitted by students in 26 schools in this year’s contest. The 13 winners’ works will be displayed in a 2004 “It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air” calendar.
The work was judged based on several criteria, including illustration of the theme, use of color and space, creativity and overall design.
“Teachers incorporate it (the contest) into their science classes, so the kids can take part in understanding their environment and the importance of helping their environment,” said Victoria Fendorf of AMBAG. “And some teachers just do it as part of their art program.”
The student poster contest was part of a larger public education program to improve air quality and decrease traffic congestion.
Fendorf said the number of entries continues to grow each year.
“We hope more schools participate,” she said.
