More than two dozen San Benito High School students competed in an annual anti-tobacco poster contest sponsored by the TobAction club, with the winners announced Thursday morning in the school library.
Each poster has a drawing and a tagline that discourages the use of tobacco products.
Andy Prisco, the club adviser and a school counselor, said 28 students entered their artwork in the competition this year and the posters were on display in the library for all students to see. Nine students were selected for honors in the competition, including first through third place and six honorable mentions. The first-place winner, Jeremy Hail, a junior, will receive $100, with the third-place winner, Devon O’Hare, receiving $25. The honorable mention winners will receive a $10 gift card.
Many of the students were encouraged to enter their artwork by teacher John Robrock. Ana Maldonado, a junior who took second place for her drawing of a man smoking a cigar with a skeleton hovering over his shoulder, said she had seen the posters last year. She will receive a $50 prize.
“I thought it was cool and said I would do it,” she said.
She said she originally came up with a different idea for her poster, but she thought it might be too dramatic so she changed it up.
Maldonado said she doesn’t know anyone who smokes but she thinks the posters will discourage students from using tobacco.
Isela Gutierrez said she signed up for the poster contest because she saw a flier for it in her art class. She said she sketched out a couple ideas, and Robrock helped her select her final concept. Her poster shows a person being squeezed by a cigarette that is wrapped around him like a boa constrictor. Her tagline is “Don’t Choke on the Smoke.”
Juan Carillo, another honorable mention winner, said he got his idea for a dark color charcoal drawing from looking at pictures on the Internet. His tagline reads “Death is Waiting,” with a figure of death prominent on the poster.
Prisco said it is the tenth year the TobAction club has sponsored the poster contest. The club of 15 students also visits the health classes each year to speak about the negative side effects of using tobacco products, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco and other forms of it.
While the posters will be coming down Friday with the student artists able to claim their work, he said any unclaimed pieces will likely end up on display in classrooms or on campus.
“It’s a real good way to bring awareness to what we do,” Prisco said.
2013 TobAction Art Contest Winners
First place: Jeremy Hail, 11th grade
Second place: Ana Maldonado, 11th grade
Third place: Devon O’Hare, 12th grade
Honorable mentions:
Juan Carillo, 12th grade
Maria Fuentes, 12th grade
Isela Gutierrez, 11th grade
Kris Johnson, 11th grade
Madison Pennisi, 9th grade
Kayla Ramirez, 10th grade
