At the ceremony, a beaming Mr. Ekker was also awarded a full scholarship for summer art classes at OTIS, although he humbly told AVPA’s co-director, Kristine Hatanaka, "I think they gave me the summer scholarship by mistake."
Ms. Hatanaka, who also runs AVPA’s art department, replied. "Of course they didn’t, Noel!"
She encourages her students to take every opportunity to showcase their skills – opportunities like these highly competitive Scholastic Arts Awards.
Matter of Pride
According to Ms. Hatanaka, "I’m always proud of the talent and creativity of my students. It’s very gratifying for me to see them receive the recognition of a national competition like this. Just looking at their faces when they win something like this, I can see it makes them happy as well."
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have celebrated 80 years of identifying and documenting the outstanding achievements of young artists and writers in the visual and literary arts.
Millions of Winners
Since 1923, 12 million students have participated, 2 million young artists and writers have been recognized, and $20 million in awards and scholarships have been made available.
Each year, 250,000 students in grades 7 through 12 participate in the competition.
The Academy of Visual and Performing Arts at Culver High has been inspiring and empowering students to build a compassionate, creative community through innovative and challenging arts education since 1996.
For more information about the Academy, go to avpa.org or contact Tony Spano at 310.842.4200, ext. 6094 or Ms. Hatanaka at 310.842.4200 ext. 6001.