THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 3, 1996 TAG: 9609030049
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 93 lines
For months, Jessica Keane's artwork was held in place by a magnet on the family refrigerator.
Come next June, it'll hang from household and business walls throughout Currituck County.
Keane, a seventh-grader at J.P. Knapp Junior High School, was among 11 Currituck County students whose pen and pencil sketches were selected for the 1996-97 school calendars distributed recently.
Keane received an honorable mention in the elementary division for a pencil drawing of flowers and a hummingbird that she created while a student at W.T. Griggs Elementary School.
``I feel good that I was able to draw something that would be put into the calendar,'' Keane, 12, said.
That's the reaction school officials had hoped for when they began the art contest last year and started showing it off in glossy, high-quality calendars.
``The calendar gives students an incentive to work hard. It's sort of like an award to them and gives them a reason to work at their full potential,'' said Jimi Sutton, the art teacher at Currituck County High School.
One of Sutton's former students, James Hodges, earned the grand prize - the calendar cover - for his sketch of a girl and her Cabbage Patch doll.
``When James Hodges came to me, he could do little better than a straight line,'' Sutton said of the recent graduate.
But Hodges was willing to put in long hours to perfect his talent. ``He became one of the best artists that has ever left Currituck County High School,'' Sutton said.
Lisa Johnson, another Currituck County High graduate whose work is in the calendar, was the first of Sutton's students to earn a $15,000 art scholarship to Elizabeth City State University, he said.
Johnson, whose work is from her senior year, also drew a young girl that goes with the month of October.
The senior division, which was judged by elementary school art teachers, also included Sabrina Muhammad, who took third place for her drawing of a weightlifter, and Buddy Byrd, whose picture of a Dalmatian won honorable mention.
Only one student had two pieces included in the calendar. Derrick Owens, formerly of Griggs Elementary and now at Knapp Junior High, represents September with his fruit basket and December with a portrait.
``I feel like Derrick will go on because of this,'' said Lisa Doxey, the Griggs art teacher. ``He and Jessica both can't believe that everybody in the county has one of these calendars.''
Diane Sawyer, the school system's public information director, said people have been calling for more calendars since they were distributed at the beginning of the school year.
Almost all of the 3,500 copies, which cost the county about $2,800 to print, have been given away, she said.
Currituck County schools have been putting together school calendars for some time. But the monthly datebooks have become more popular since student artwork began appearing a year ago.
``I think it's just getting better,'' Sawyer said. ``I mean, the artwork last year was just fantastic, but we didn't do it as a contest.
``Art teachers can now give students a purpose other than having nice artwork to hang on their walls.''
Jessica Pool is among those who is enjoying the recognition for her third-place finish in the junior division. Her work, appearing with February, shows a series of hands holding scissors. It was an assignment in teacher Andrea Croom's class.
``It's pretty neat. Everybody gets to see the calendar, and if they know me, they say, `Hey, I know her,' '' said the Carova eighth-grader who attends Knapp Junior High.
Other Knapp artists include top winner Matt O'Neal, who did a cityscape; Candi Lavra, who won second place for her winter landscape; and Jim Lucy, who won honorable mention for his work of a basketball player.
Elementary school entries were judged by upper-level instructors. In addition to the two Griggs students, Janice Cox of Moyock Elementary School earned third place for her woodpecker drawing. She is taught by Tammy Kight.
The calendar artists earned more than recognition.
Cash prizes, plaques and gift certificates for art supplies were given, courtesy of Perry Glass Co., Art Metal and Plastic, Admark Advertising, ABC Printing, Currituck Arts Council and the Currituck Ruritan Club.
Sawyer said she hopes to expand the calendar and include more artwork next year.
``In some cases, for some kids, this is their best chance of getting recognized,'' she said.
Keane said she's already done a sketch that she wants to enter in next year's contest. She's sticking with a floral theme, this time with a sunflower.
And where is the artwork now?
``On the refrigerator door,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DREW C. WILSON/ The Virginian-Pilot
This sketch by Candi Lavra of J.P. Knapp Junior High is one of the
works included in the 1996-97 Currituck County school calendar. by CNB