By Khalida Sarwari
Mary Jo Mendoza’s wish came true.
The Lynhaven Elementary School fifth-grader recently picked up a new mountain bike from Wheel Away Cycle Center on E. Hamilton Avenue, her prize for winning the Civic Improvement Commission’s annual student poster contest.
Upon finding out she had won, Mary Jo almost cried, her mother April, said. But she kept the tears back so as not to embarrass herself.
“She always wanted a bike,” the 11-year-old girl’s mother said. “We’re living on the third floor in an apartment and were planning to buy it next year or for Christmas. She was so happy when she got the bike.”
Mary Jo and her mother moved to the area from the Philippines just a few months ago, but as soon as she saw a flier announcing the contest, Mary Jo became invested in the project, working on her poster for a few hours every few days.
The theme of the contest, which is now in its sixth year, was “Discover Campbell Library.” The commission invited all fifth-grade students who reside in or attend school in Campbell to create a poster that would best highlight the wide range of services the library offers. Among them are media materials, reading programs, publications on a variety of interests, Internet access, video games, DVDs, downloadable books and Brainfuse, an online homework assistance program.
Students were encouraged to draw or paint from their imagination a depiction of what the library means to them. The posters were judged on adherence to the contest’s theme and representation of Campbell, as well as neatness, legibility, and grammar and spelling.
The commission received nearly 70 entries from six elementary schools. Coming in second and third place were, respectively, Challenger School’s Rohin Tangirala and Vy-Anh Nguyen, from St. Lucy Parish School. Both received Kindle e-readers.
The other seven finalists received gift certificates from local merchants. The winners were St. Lucy students Aaron Stoll, Matthew Hidde, Sammy Ricci, Tyler Ghajar, Bianca Mantovani and Ava Schroeder, and Forest Hill student Morayah Horvitz.
The winners were recognized at a May 10 meeting of the Civic Improvement Commission, a group that oversees areas related to the city’s beautification, history, public art, youth and senior citizens and makes recommendations to the city council in those areas.
All posters entered in the contest were showcased at the May 18 downtown Art Walk and the winning posters will be on display in the library through June 1.
Mary Jo Mendoza’s poster picked as the best representation of Campbell Library
