Oakland – Many Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) students worked long and hard to envision, design, and create their posters calling on everyone in the community to get vaccinated against COVID-19. And after a challenging period of judging by members of the Oakland Unified School District OUSD COVID Response Team and the Communications Team, winners of the poster contest have been chosen. There are three divisions for elementary, middle, and high school students, and each division has a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finisher.
In the elementary division, the first place winner (shown above) is 2nd grader from Manzanita SEED, Siena D. In second place was a two person team from Crocker Highlands, 4th graders Amelie S. and Evelyn H. And coming in third was another two person team from Crocker Highlands, 4th graders Lola L. and Elise H. First place artist, Siena D. had a lot to say about her poster. “I entered the contest because I thought it would be nice and fun to make a poster and also because I want it to be safer at my school and in the world. I was trying to get across that vaccination is right for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) nation because when people get vaccinated we will be able to go places with more freedom. Students should get vaccinated so that they can have more quality time with their friends. At school, it would be safer for everyone so they wouldn’t just be doing a deed for themselves, they would be doing it for the world. Please, get vaccinated!”
At the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD)middle school level, first place went to United For Success Academy 8th grader, Edwin A. Pictured above, Edwin also did a version in Spanish. Taking second place was Elmhurst middle school 6th grader, Ethan G. And in third is Sophia E., 6th grader from Montera Middle School. First place winner, Edwin A., was unavailable for comment.
In our high schools, the 1st place winner (pictured right) was Oakland High 11th grader Azineth J. Taking 2nd place was MetWest 10th grader Yanessa O. The 3rd place winner was Oakland Technical High 10th grader, Kennedy O. First place artist, Azineth J. said, “I decided to join the contest because there’s a lot of students I know that aren’t vaccinated yet and instead of trying to convince them to get vaccinated one by one, I thought, ‘Why not just create something that will reach the whole student body?’ There’s too many people that I love in my life and it would really suck if suddenly they just catch this disease. I hope in some ways, the poster inspires you to protect, if not yourself, then maybe your loved ones. Even if I didn’t win the contest, I would’ve still posted it on my social media accounts just to get the word out and keep everyone safe.”
“Our students are creative and motivated, and they care about each other and our community,” said Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “I love seeing them put their artistic skills to the test, especially for such an important purpose as reminding our community to get vaccinated. It’s clear their work paid off. I know the judging was difficult because there was so much good artwork submitted by our students, but the winners will be effective at reminding the community to get vaccinated. I thank and congratulate them and all students who entered the contest.”
All winners will receive prizes ranging from sports memorabilia from the Oakland A’s and Golden State Warriors to headphones to gift cards, and the first place posters will be printed and distributed to schools. 2nd and 3rd place posters are shown below.
Elementary division 2nd place winner on left by 4th graders Amelie S. and Evelyn H. from Crocker Highlands, and on right, 3rd place winner by Lola L. and Elise H., also 4th graders from Crocker Highlands.
Middle school division 2nd place winner on left by Ethan G., 6th grader at Elmhurst United, and on right, 3rd place winner by Sophia E., 6th grader at Montera.
High school division 2nd place winner on left by Yanessa O., 10th grader at MetWest, and on right, 3rd place winner by Kennedy O., 10th grader from Oakland Tech.
Post based on press release from OUSD to ZENNIE62MEDIA, INC.