Lizzy Tsuang
Staff Writer
Costa is full of opportunities for students to showcase their talents in many subjects, including the arts. This year, Costa continues to allow students to enter a contest and submit pages of their original artwork that could possibly become Costa’s student planner cover for the following school year.
Submissions are due to Heather Hoffman by April 15. The rules and guidelines for all entries are located on Mira Costa’s school website. According to Hoffman, entries must follow the strict format and contain school-appropriate creativity.
“Every Mira Costa student can enter this contest,” Hoffman said. “You don’t need to be an art student or even consider yourself an artist. Seniors don’t have an advantage over freshmen; art students don’t have an advantage over those not artistically inclined. It’s an even playing field.”
The top three entries with the highest amount of votes will be selected for the 2014-15 school year planner covers. Winners receive a $100 American Express Gift Card and approximately 700 copies of each cover will be printed.
“I especially like the reward aspect of the contest,” sophomore Kohei New, one of last year’s winners, said. “However, the contest itself is also extremely rewarding because you get to see everyone walking around campus with your design on their planner and I think that’s a great achievement. It’s a great chance to express my love for the arts and I’m really looking forward to participating in this year’s competition.”
Instead of selecting finalists who will then be voted on by the student body, like in previous years, this year Hoffman has decided to make all entries available for all students and faculty. This creates equal opportunities for all entries to obtain the same exposure. Voting will take place during snack and lunch on April 23, 24 and 25 in the cafeteria.
“There will be over 2,600 judges, if you count all students and staff members at Costa,” Hoffman said. “Everyone will get to vote once for their top 3 favorites out of the entry pool and all entries will have equal exposure to faculty, staff and students.”
No entries have been received yet, but approximately 35 entries were submitted last year. Hoffman would like to gain more student participation in the event this year and hopes that, with the deadline set after Spring Break, students will take advantage of the extra time and be more motivated to submit an entry.
“Most schools just slap their school logo on the cover and call it a day,” Hoffman said. “But there are so many graphically gifted students at Costa whose talents might otherwise go unnoticed if it weren’t for this contest. I just hope that anyone who has a creative side will want to enter. Don’t be afraid to “go out of the box” and be creative.”
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