2007 Hispanic Heritage Program Local Art and Essay Contest winners

Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services and The Detroit News Newspapers in Education announce winners of the 2007 Hispanic Heritage Program Local Art and Essay Contest

On Saturday, November 10, distinguished Hispanic artists Hector Perez and Kristal Brissee and photographers Lisa Luevanos and Alyssia Zettlemoyer, selected four winners and seven special recognitions from a field of more than 528 student entries from across Michigan in the Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services/The Detroit News Newspapers in Education 20007 Hispanic Heritage Program Local Art and Essay Contest. Students had been asked to research a person of Hispanic descent that has made a significant contribution to their community or their life. Then, students were asked to create a portrait of this individual and write a brief composition about their subject describing why they chose this person.

The winners were chosen based on originality, creativity, interpretation of theme and design and appropriateness for grade level.

The winners are:

First Place: $2,250 U.S. Savings Bond, Ford Hispanic Heritage Program Award and Certificate of Merit. Portrait of Mexican inventor Victor Ochoa by Rohan Patel - Grade 8
Canton Charter Academy, Canton
Teacher: Mr. Michael Shank

Second Place: $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond, Ford Hispanic Heritage Program Award and Certificate of Merit.
Portrait of ten-year-old community activist Madeline Reyes by Andrea Reyes -Grade 8
Huron Valley Catholic School, Ypsilanti
Teacher - Mr. Terry Caputo

Third Place: $500 U.S. Savings Bond, Ford Hispanic Heritage Program Award and Certificate of Merit.
Portrait of Nobel Prize Physicist and Inventor Dr. Luis Walter Alvarez- Lisa Ludtke-Grade 5
Greyhound Intermediate School, Eaton Rapids
Teacher: Ms. Colleen O'Neill

Honorable Mention: $250 U.S. Savings Bond, Ford Hispanic Heritage Program Award and Certificate of Merit
Portrait of Union organizer and migrant worker champion Cesar E. Chavez - Mark B. Smith - Grade 6
Petoskey Middle School, Petoskey
Teacher - Mrs. Kathleen Phelps

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS - CERTIFICATES OF MERIT

Portrait of Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena - Mexican inventor of color TV - Megan Shokar - Grade 8
Canton Charter Academy, Canton
Teacher - Mr. Michael Shank

Portrait of singer Celia Cruz - Atziry Ruiz - Grade 4
Maybury Elementary, Detroit
Teacher - Lila Kadaj

Portrait of Astronaut Carlos Noriega - Sho Woodberry - Grade 4
Foreign Language Immersion & Cultural Studies Academy, Detroit
Teacher - Ms. Sherry McKinnon

Portrait of Judy Baca, artist and community activist - Noel Merritt - Grade 4
Foreign Language Immersion & Cultural Studies Academy, Detroit
Teacher - Ms. Sherry McKinnon

Portrait of famous 15th Century Spanish painter, Diego Velasquez - Christopher Terry - Grade 8
Bates Academy, Detroit
Teacher - Ms. Robin McDaniel

Portrait of early 20th Century labor organizer Emma Tenayuca - Juana Barajas - Grade 8
Clippert Academy, Detroit
Teacher - Ms. Ruth Goldfaden

Portrait of famous, inner-city Los Angeles, math teacher Jaime Escalante - Lyndall Moore - Grade 8
Bates Academy, Detroit
Teacher - Robin McDaniel