Four NDA art students received recognition for themselves and the school as winners in the 20th annual Brown County Martin Luther King, Jr. art contest.  The awards ceremony took place January 17 at NWTC.

Junior Susan Rose won first place and received an iPad mini and certificate. Junior Elise Witmer took second place and received a Kindle wireless reading device and certificate.  Seniors Melaina Rapisarda and Lizzie Peterson both took third place and received a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card and certificate.

Students taking IB Art I and II with Mrs. Barb Brandtner, art teacher at NDA, participated in the poster contest.

“I have been doing this contest for about 10 years now, and it was the Semester One final exam for my IB Art I and II juniors and seniors,” said Mrs. Brandtner.

“The theme of the poster contest was working for justice everywhere, and I feel like my poster really helped get that message across,” said Rapisarda.

Peterson explained how she had not expected to be a winner: “My poster was more of a politically charged piece. I did not expect it to place in the top three because it was very serious and different than all of the other posters.”

Both Rapisarda and Peterson said that they felt honored to represent NDA in the contest.

In addition to the student winners, Mrs. Brandtner was one of the recipients of the “I Have a Dream” award given to two outstanding teachers.

Many students from NDA participated in an inspiring event that not only remembered Dr. King’s life but also helped his dream to live on.