JAHS Students Shine at St. Joseph Vally Art, Essay and Poetry Contest
April 23, 2019
Recently Amanda Zablocki, Elizabeth Drake, and I had students who entered the Tenth Biennial St. Joseph Valley Art, Essay and Poetry Contest.
Over 140 students from across the Michiana area – including Adams High School, Clay High School, St. Joseph High School, John Glenn High School, Penn High School, and Jackson Middle School – entered in one of three categories.
Temple Beth-El in downtown South Bend hosted the contest, with Michelle Freel playing an instrumental role as a liaison, organizer, and emcee. The competition theme was “The Holocaust – we shall never forget.” Teachers lit candles as part of the awards ceremony, symbolically lighting the path for students.
In art, Amanda Zablocki’s student Jacob Kajzer received an Honorable Mention. Amanda’s other students included Sam Villagra-Stanton, Anna Guzik, Jordan Lewis, and Kylie Parcher. My student Zuzanna Kukawska received 2nd place in 2D art.
In the essay contest, Elizabeth Drake’s students swept the category as Lacie Wisniewski took 1st place, Grace Hartman took 2nd and Sarahi Duran took 3rd place.
In the poetry contest, the judging panel of retired English teachers could not distinguish between 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. The panel decided to name one of Mrs. Drake’s students Ava Donihue, and two of my students, Fiona McGuire and Lilliana Rozycki, to a three-way tie for first place.
The attached gallery includes a the first-place artwork from John Glenn High School, in Walkerton, IN. The gallery also includes the work awarded Best in Show from St. Joseph High School in South Bend, IN. The rest of the gallery includes work from the students of John Adams.
First-place winners were awarded $300, second-place students, $200; and third-place students, $100. Students also received certificates of distinction and could choose between two recently published books on the Holocaust: Code Name Verity and The Girl in the Blue Coat.
