NEEDLES - Four talented Needles High School Students won a scholarship from BPO Elks Lodge 1608 in a design competition. Awards were presented April 3.
The scholarship competition consisted of students from the CTE Arts, Media and Entertainment class designing a T-shirt for the Elks Lodge.
"The students had nine months to work on the T-shirt; everything from the idea to the final production of the T-shirt," said Stacey Martinez, CTE Arts, Media and Entertainment teacher. "Once the students had their designs completed they went to the Elks Lodge and presented in front of a panel and sold their design to them."
Mary McNeil, Needles Unified School District superintendent, stated that she was very impressed with the students' hard work, dedication and presentation abilities during the t-shirt contest.
"This is the reason we have our CTE classes available at the high school," said McNeil. "Through these classes we are able to give our students real-world experience that they can apply when they have graduated."
Barbara Earle, BPO Elks Lodge 1608 Exalted Ruler, stated it was a hard choice to make when picking the winners.
The winners of the BPO Elks Lodge 1608 scholarships were Christian Zuniga, Mildred Necochea, Drake Sandate and Nathan Wilfong.
NOTE: CTE stands for Career Technical Education. Dr. Mary McNeil, addressing the Needles Downtown Business Alliance April meeting, commented that the 38 students competing in the design contest had to learn Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft PowerPoint. All were tasked with giving an oral presentation accompanied by PowerPoint displays to demonstrate their designs. "These kids get real life experience before leaving high school," McNeil commented. "The kids are saying they're ready to go for a job interview now." She added that the school district is open to enhancing curriculum to match the needs of the local business community. - ed.
