One of my students won second place for the Safe City contest at our high school. Safe City is a contest that several different districts in our area participate in. Each school puts together a team of teachers and administrators to choose a first, second, and third place winner.

My students could choose to work from several of the suggested themes: family violence, suicide, bullying, or cyber-bullying. For this project, we focused on the Element of Texture. Because it is a required contest for all art teachers to participate in, many of my students had created a poster in Elementary or Middle School.

In order to make the project new and interesting, I showed my students examples of artists who incorporate text into their artwork. Each student could decide how to include words in their drawing.

I was so proud of how this student wove the text throughout his drawing and turned each letter into a detailed and powerful representation of the tough subject matter he tackled. He won a $50 award; he and his family were invited to a celebration for Safe City. I’m so proud of him!