Career Poetry, Poster Contest State Winners
March 10, 2010
National Career Development Month poetry, poster competition winners announced
COLUMBIA, SC – March 10, 2010 – Forty-six South Carolina students have been named winners in a poetry and poster contest held annually in celebration of National Career Development Month.
These winners will advance to the national finals where Palmetto State entrants have fared well in recent years. In 2009 the state had two first-, four second- and two third-place winning entries at the national level.
A project of the National Career Development Association, the contest is coordinated by the Office of Career and Technology Education at the South Carolina Department of Education.
“The number of winners from South Carolina in 2009 exceeded all other states,” said Dr. Ray Davis, education associate for career guidance.
“This is a testimony to the school-based collaboration between guidance personnel and art instructors, between several offices here at SCDE, as well as our statewide coordinator, Dave Walker, a career specialist in the Lowcountry Region.”
For more than four decades the November contest has sought entries of original poetry or artwork emphasizing a theme of career development.
The theme this year was Bridges to a Brighter Future – Inspire Your Career: Empower Your Life.
The competition is based on six divisions – primary, intermediate, middle, senior, adult student and open adult. Each student’s work aims to celebrate and inspire career development with a positive tone.
There are two poster categories – one for the standard use of ink, pencil and poster paints, and the second for posters produced using photos, clip art or graphic art software/mixed media.
The competition provides students with hands-on exposure to arts and literature careers. Davis said several Education Department offices worked to expand the scope of this year’s contest. Sherry Williams – a school-based career specialists liaison who’s active in the local art community – helped promote the program, resulting in a record number of participants.
Scot Hockman, education associate in the Office of Standards and Support, marketed the competition to art teachers and is coordinating an exhibit of student work with several South Carolina art associations.
Honorary judges for the competition were Denmark artist Jim Harrison and poet Dr. Ray McManus, a professor at USC-Sumter.
Sun Printing, an international printing company with a facility in West Columbia, served as corporate sponsor to furnish certificates and promotional material of state winners’ entries and is sponsoring a touring exhibit.
