
DATE: Friday, March 21, 1997                TAG: 9703210066

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MICHELE VERNON-CHESLEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   77 lines

MIDDLE-SCHOOLER STROKES HIS WAY TO NATIONAL AWARD BUT ART SUCCESS TAKES A BACK SEAT TO HIS DREAM OF BEING A DENTIST

LAST SEMESTER, he won the PTA Reflections contest for an illustration stroked with the images of a multicultural world.

Recently, he was selected to participate in an art program for gifted students at Old Donation Center.

He gets rave reviews from his art teacher Jayne Huff and other fans at Bayside Middle School in Virginia Beach.

But what does Jaime Rull want to be when he grows up?

A dentist.

``Art for me is, like, just a hobby,'' Jaime, 15, said shyly as he sat in the school library. ``I don't think I'm going to be famous or anything.''

That depends on how you judge fame, Jaime.

Jaime recently was named winner of Weekly Reader READ magazine's Art Awards contest. The national contest drew entries from 500 middle and high school students nationwide. As winner, Jaime's artwork will be seen by about a million readers when it adorns the May 2 cover of READ, a language arts magazine for middle and high school students. He'll also receive a $100 award.

Jaime's piece was chosen because it showed ``mastery of his craft and a good sense of color and composition,'' said Kate Davis, associate editor of the magazine. The illustration is a vibrant watercolor that bounces from realism into abstraction. It was done as a class project on vertical displacement, but the colors and the execution set it apart.

``When I saw the contest. . . I just thought Jaime's work sounded perfect for it,'' said Huff. ``Everything he does is done to perfection, anyway.''

Jaime said he didn't believe it when his art teacher told him he had won.

``I didn't talk for, like, three minutes because I was so excited,'' he said. ``I can't believe it.''

And when he told his mom, she couldn't believe it, either. In fact, she didn't believe it until Jaime's English as a Second Language teacher, Judy Beckner, called to confirm the award.

``We told everybody in the whole world,'' said Beckner.

For Jaime and his teachers, the award speaks to more than Jaime's ability as an artist. It speaks to his personality, his dedication and his strong will.

Jaime came to Hampton Roads from the Philippines just three years ago. When he started at Bayside, he couldn't speak English.

``I understood, but I can't think what I'm going to say,'' Jaime offered. He didn't take art his first year because he needed to work on his speaking skills.

Now the honor student with the gold hoop earring in his left ear smiles as Beckner boasts about how far Jaime has come.

``Would you have done this (interview) two years ago,'' she asks.

He shakes his head, giving the universal signal for no.

``How about last year?''

No, again.

Even now, Jaime seems a bit uncomfortable, looking into Beckner's eyes before he answers a reporter's questions.

But Jaime is comfortable with his art.

He works at it every Friday at Old Donation Center, where Jaime is one of three Bayside students chosen to participate in a program for gifted students. Although Jaime is excused from Friday afternoon classes at Bayside, it's his responsibility to make up the work he missed. He's also preparing an application for the Governor's School for the Arts.

Despite all the art in his life, Jaime, won't be swayed from his idea of becoming a dentist.

``My cousin always said he wanted to be a dentist,'' said Jaime. ``It kind of, like, got stuck in my head.''

``Well,'' said art teacher Huff, ``making teeth is artwork.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

CHARLIE MEADS/The Virginian-Pilot

Jaime Rull won Weekly Reader READ magazine's art contest.

ART BY JAIME RULL

Jaime's artwork will be seen by a million readers when it appears on

the May 2 cover of READ, a language arts magazine for middle and

high school students.